Drastic Changes
by nessie6
Summary: On Hiatus.
1. The Collecting of Six

Disclaimer- I do not own Pietro Maximoff, Todd Tolensky, Bolivar Trask, or Henry Gyrich. I do not own anything that comes from X-Men Evolution. I DO own Sheila Dunphrey, Marla Conner, Niles Singer, Harold Connelly, and Peter Stusche.  
  
Summary- What if everything that Magneto has said came true? What if every mutant's life was at stake at every minute of every hour of every day? What if you had to live in fear of being ambushed at every moment of every day? Read as mutants struggle to survive in a hate-filled world. Welcome to another Holocaust. Read and Review.  
  
Author's Note- SOME people might get a wrong idea so let me just say this. I'm not exactly welcoming you to another Holocaust. Just an expression, or used sarcastically. But anyways please read, and I hope you enjoy!  
  
Chapter One- The Collecting of Six  
  
Two well-dressed men walked briskly down a corridor with gray walls and tiles. Not a very exciting color in the least. It was rather dull, rather boring. As it is though, this place wasn't meant to be entertaining or exciting at all.  
  
One of the men, who had reddish-brown hair and a kind of shady-glasses stopped at a door to their left, knocked, and without waiting for an answer, turned the silver knob and let himself and the man with him in.  
  
At the gray-metal desk was an overweight man wearing dark blue dress slacks, which when he sat down, the end came up to the middle of his calf, revealing black socks and a little bit of hairy flesh. He was wearing a white polo shirt that was tucked into his pants, where his large belly protruded over his belt. Tied around his neck was some sort of goofy tie that stood out. It had red, blue, yellow, and green swirls. He had thinning hair and already had a bald patch in the back at the top. His face was glistening from perspiration. Amidst the stacks of files and papers scattered across his desk was a black plaque with a few scratches on it that read: Harold J. Connelly.  
  
He looked up as the men walked into his tiny office. "Ah, Mr. Gyrich. Nice to see you again."  
  
The man named Gyrich shook his hand, "As always, Mr. Connelly. This is Bolivar Trask," he jabbed his thumb at the man behind him. He had a mustache, dark gray hair, which were a much lighter shade of gray at the temples. He merely nodded, not saying anything, his cold eyes not leaving Connelly's face. "You are still holding those mutants here, right? Last I was here there were four."  
  
"Six," corrected Mr. Connelly. "I mean, there are six of 'em now. We just got two new ones three weeks ago. Would you like to see their files?"  
  
Gyrich raised his eyebrows and smirked, quite pleased. "Why yes, thank you, Mr. Connelly."  
  
Mr. Connelly rummaged in the depths of the drawers and finally pulled out two manila folders and handed them to Trask, who immediately snatched them out of his hand.  
  
"Mutants!" he spat with much venom. "They're a disgrace! A disease to mankind! All they're good for is crimes, and we have enough of that!"  
  
Mr. Gyrich nodded as he looked at one of the files. "Todd Tolensky. Look at the state of him! Filth!" he sneered, "He looks like something that came out of a swamp! Grabs things with his tongue. Shoots slime out of his mouth. Hops! This is ridiculous! You see what they're letting roam freely in our nation? It's an outrage!"  
  
Trask scowled at his file. "Pietro Maximoff. Look at his hair! It's white! No-better yet, it's silver. It just looks white. If I hadn't known better, I'd say he's albino. But he has blue eyes, not red." He snarled. "Super- speed. You see? He could rob a whole bank without anyone noticing him! Do you see what these monsters will do to our country? Our world?"  
  
Gyrich smirked. "That's why we're dealing with them, Bolivar." He turned to look at Mr. Connelly, whose eyes were slightly wide. "We are here to take the six mutants from this prison: Todd Tolensky, Pietro Maximoff, Sheila Dunphrey, Marla Conner, Peter Stusche, and Niles Singer."  
  
Mr. Connelly nodded. "Yes, they are ready to go whenever you want 'em to."  
  
"Good," Trask smirked. "You DO have the inhibitor collars on them, of course?"  
  
"Of course," Mr. Connelly agreed. "You needn't worry about them escaping. But be careful, Maximoff is still extremely fast for a human without his powers and Sheila Dunphrey will have you tied around her little finger."  
  
Gyrich sneered. "Won't happen to US, will it, Bolivar?"  
  
Trask just smirked.  
  
"Bring us to them," Gyrich demanded.  
  
Now walking down another mono-colored corridor, the 'guests' sneered at the occupants in the cells, which appeared occasionally.  
  
Mr. Connelly turned to the fifth cell on the right side of the corridor. Immediately, a definite feminine hand shot between the bars and out of the darkness and stroked his double chin with a finger and perfectly manicured nails.  
  
"Hiya, handsome. Whatchya doing?" a deep female voice purred.  
  
Mr. Connelly turned to the two men behind him. "Sheila Dunphrey. She likes to have the lights off." He turned back to the figure that the arm and voice belonged to. "Turn on the lights, Sheila. Let the men see your pretty little face."  
  
There was only darkness in the cell. Then after a pause, the woman said in delight, "Men! Came to bring me some good-looking hunks, hun? Sorry, dear, but I'm still married to my love Bubba."  
  
Mr. Connelly's face looked slightly irritated. "Sheila! You know perfectly well that Bubba ain't seen you in two years. I haven't seen hide nor hair of your son neither. So don't give me this BS about you not bein' a cheatin' person! We all know you're a flea-bitten whore. Now turn on those god-damned lights!"  
  
There was a pause. Movements could be heard, like a shuffling of feet, and the lights flickered on, then off, and then they stayed on.  
  
There stood a woman with fair skin and vivid purple eyes with cat-like pupils. Her hair was such a light purple that it looked almost white.  
  
She had a very ugly scowl plastered to her pretty face. "Dare you call me that again?" she seethed.  
  
"Shut up," he snapped at her.  
  
Her full lips puckered out and her almond shaped eyes narrowed. She was extremely curvy, and she jutted one hip to the side, crossed her left arm under her large breasts and rested her right elbow on top of the back of her left hand, resting her chin on her right, which was clenched in a loose fist.  
  
Connelly turned back to the two men behind him, who were looking at Sheila in disgust. "You going to call a van to bring 'em? Cause Rusty could come get her and Peter Stusche, who is also in his cell. The rest are working outside."  
  
Gyrich flipped open his cell phone and called for the FoH van that was waiting in the front. "What's their cell numbers?" he asked Connelly.  
  
"Twenty-eight and thirty-two." He said. Gyrich told the man on the phone the numbers.  
  
"Bring the ones outside in, then," Trask said.  
  
Mr. Connelly led them all the way to the end of the hall, where there was an elevator. Pressing the "down" arrow, Mr. Connelly took out a handkerchief and dabbed at his shining forehead. The doors separated and the three of them stepped in, and Connelly pressed the button that had a bold "G" on it. There was no conversation as Connelly led them to a room with a metal table and cheap metal folding chairs that were painted brown.  
  
They waited for almost ten minutes in silence when the door opened and a hairy guard walked in with a lit cigarette, leading four mutants behind him.  
  
"Here they are," he growled. All were in handcuffs except for a mutant with a faded red bandana and a face and neck that was the color of a lobster. His hands though, were extremely pale. Around all of their necks was a blinking collar.  
  
"Rusty," said Mr. Connelly, standing up, "Why isn't Maximoff wearing handcuffs?"  
  
"We compromised," Rusty said gruffly. "I said I'd get 'im stuff for that sunburn 'o his and let him not wear 'em handcuffs now if he'd give me a couple of 'is packs 'o cigs."  
  
"Rusty!" Mr. Connelly almost screamed.  
  
"Relax, Slow," smirked Pietro Maximoff, although it looked like a grimace from moving his face while attempting to smirk, even though there was a trace of the smirk still there. Wearing a bandana wasn't really his style, more like his old housemate Lance's, but it kept his scalp from turning beet red like the rest of his face and neck and also the sweat from really getting into his eyes, although it didn't stop 'all' of it.  
  
Trask bolted up as though he just received an electric shock. "Irresponsible, Mr. Silverman! Risking a mutant to escape for his pack of cigarettes!" he then turned to the speed-demon and snarled, "And how dare you speak when we haven't spoken to you, monster?!"  
  
Pietro just rolled his eyes as if this was nothing new but the smaller man standing beside him suddenly blurted out, "Yo! I know you! You're that sentinel guy!"  
  
Pietro's eyes widened slightly. He started to look slightly panicky. "They're gonna take us. They're going to evacuate us from here. They'regonnatakeus!" and he tried to bolt to the door but Rusty put a hairy arm out and caught Pietro by the orange clothing by his shoulder.  
  
Pietro turned to Todd Tolensky, the one who had spoken. He was starting to hyperventilate. "Todd! They're going to take us to concentration camps! They're gonna experiment on us! Just like my father said! Just like Magneto said! They'regonnaexperimentonus! They'regonnaexperimentonus!" he was struggling to get loose from Rusty's grip, who was holding on to both his upper arms, but it was too strong.  
  
"Rusty put those handcuffs on him now!" hollered Connelly, as all the other mutants started to panic.  
  
Gyrich flipped open his cell phone again as he watched Rusty struggling to put the manacles on the wrists of the sunburned mutant. "Dan? Yeah, come get the other four. Make sure two stay behind to keep an eye on the other two. How many? You, Harris, Kolinsky, and Mardrin will do to escort these. Hurry up because we don't have all day!"  
  
Gyrich turned to Connelly. "Dan Hooper is new. He's okay, but he doesn't really seem to hate monsters like these." He jerked his head to the panicking group. Pietro was still trying to struggle even though the handcuffs were snapped on his wrists tightly.  
  
Exactly eight minutes later four men in black uniforms with black Oakley sunglasses and a headset entered the room. They each had a tranquilizer gun, and a small black handgun strapped to their sides.  
  
The mutants panicked more and scrambled around the room, trying to get out of the way of the aiming of the tranquilizer guns of the FoH members.  
  
Pietro screamed, "Rusty! How could you! Are you just gonna let them take us? Me and Todd! I thought we were your best prisoner buddies! We gave you freakin' cigarettes for God's sake! Rusty how can you do this to us?!" Rusty turned away from them and closed his eyes as he tried to block out the sound of the struggling mutants whom he had considered friends.  
  
They still managed to shoot them, and two collapsed as the other two tried to shoot the two remaining. Pietro Maximoff, who was running around the room at an abnormal speed even without his powers, and Marla Conner, who was thin and small. She was dodging the darts that kept shooting at her and missed.  
  
She managed to upturn several chairs and knock into a few of the guys until finally, the oldest one of the group with a thin, parted black mustache, and gray hair shot her in the arm. He shot her again in the leg. She slowed and collapsed.  
  
Didn't take much longer to get. He knocked down the table, but he was so frightened about the thought of being experimented on again that he didn't pay attention as the youngest jumped him and slammed his face into the floor as another shot him in the shoulder with a dart.  
  
Smirking, Trask and Gyrich watched as the FoH members hoisted the mutants over their shoulders and walked calmly out of the room, even if they were breathing heavily.  
  
A/N- Well, I am actually quite proud of this chapter. I think it's the best chapter out of all my stories actually. I know I'm writing a story now (Please review my other stories as well!) But I have these plot bunnies hopping around in my head right now. I have two more.One about Pietro and Wanda's childhood and another about Pyro's life as he grew up. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please Review! You get free candy and an X-Man plushie in the character of your choice! (BH and Acolytes too!) 


	2. Join the Hairy Club

Disclaimer- I own none of the characters within. Except the ones that sound unfamiliar to you, or you heard of them last chapter. Anyways! I own none of the characters of X-Men or X-Men Evolution, they belong to Marvel. I am not getting paid for this.  
  
R&R!  
  
Chapter Two- Join the Hairy Club  
  
Slowly he became aware of the rhythmic motion around him. His limbs felt strangely heavy, and his eyelids would not open, no matter how hard he tried. The blood flowing through his veins felt like acid was flowing in them instead. His whole body burned. The back of his throat was scratchy and dry, and he was aware of something crusty from his nose to his chest. He licked around his lips and tasted blood. He must have had a nosebleed.  
  
He tried to scoot up into a sitting position, using the aide of the wall behind him. He paused when his back rested against it. He tried to open his eyes again, but they just seemed to be sewed shut. Turning his body to his right, so he leaned against the thing that was supporting him. He paused, suddenly feeling the pounding in his head, as though a little man was inside it, using a jackhammer to drill a pounding headache into his head. He shifted slightly again, grimacing as he felt nauseous from the migraine. He took a deep breath and rested his smooth cheek against the cool metal.  
  
He tried to open his eyes again. This time he was successful. The space surrounding him was dark, but a single beam of light shone through a crack in the wall behind him. Squinting around, he realized they were in a vehicle. By the steady breathing that surrounded him, he knew there were other occupants with him.  
  
Turning his torso to the little white beam of light he stared at it for a while. He was still a little groggy from the tranquilizers, but he wasn't too out of it not to realize what it was. It was a slot, and all he had to do was call out, and they would slide it, letting in more light. Somehow, though, Pietro didn't think he wouldn't be that lucky.  
  
The motion of the large van he was in stopped suddenly, and he heard a door click open and then slam shut in front. Struggling to his knees, he tried to peer through the crack of the slide. He couldn't see anything.  
  
"Hey," his voice was very hoarse.  
  
He gave a small yelp as the sudden bright light made his throbbing head worse and he screwed his eyes shut.  
  
"What?" the voice belonged to a young man, and he seemed a little afraid.  
  
"Where am I?" was all Pietro could ask without causing too much pain in his throat.  
  
"Y-you h-have no a-authority," the man's voice trembled. He sounded barely older than what Pietro was. Pietro snorted.  
  
"I frankly don't give a horse's ass," he sneered, his voice a little less raspy.  
  
"Don't speak unless s-spoken to, m-monster," the man demanded. He did not sound intimidating in the least.  
  
Pietro raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a monster, I'm a mutant."  
  
"Exactly," the young man seemed to gain a little composure.  
  
"How old are you?" Pietro asked suddenly, feeling curious about this young man's age.  
  
"Ei-eighteen," he answered quickly, then abruptly added, "Shut-up monster, it's none of your business."  
  
"Really? Should of said that before you told me your age. I'm nineteen," Pietro smiled a little. 'Kid was probably forced to join. Doesn't seem to really believe what he's saying.' He thought.  
  
"Just nineteen?" the man, or rather teenager, seemed a little surprised.  
  
"Yep. What's your name?"  
  
"D-Dan."  
  
"Hmm." Pietro mused, his eyes suddenly holding a mischievous glint. "So what should I call you? Dan? Danny? Dan the Man? Daniel Emanuel?"  
  
"Sh-shut up," Dan snapped. Pietro just chuckled.  
  
"OR I could call you Danny Franny, Fanny, Manny. Dan. Dan the Man." Another part of Pietro was kicking in. There were many parts of Pietro- personalities. There was 'Childhood' Pietro, who was nice and a little more generous than he was now. The one Wanda knew, the old Wanda. He hadn't been 'Childhood' Pietro since Wanda was locked away in the asylum. There was also 'Annoy the Shit out of You' Pietro, the one who was currently kicking in. There was 'I'm Acting Like I'm a Little Kid on Sugar High' Pietro. There was Quicksilver, the traitor, and the arrogant bully. Pietro was many things: brave, arrogant, mean, nice, goofy, hyper, and a coward. He was brave, but he is and always will be a coward. Something that Pietro was ashamed of himself of. He was a coward and he knew it, but he would never admit it.  
  
"Shut-up!" Dan the Man snarled vehemently. It surprised Pietro slightly, but he started laughing a split second later.  
  
"Dan. Dan. Dan the Man. Danny. Dan. Dan the Man. Daniel Emanuel. Hehe." he was starting to loose it.  
  
"I said-"  
  
"Problem, Hooper?" a gruff voice asked as they heard the door click open again.  
  
"The mutant sir," Dan stated, "he won't shut-up."  
  
"Dan. Dan. Dandandandandanantheman." his mind started to speed up, and his mouth was speeding up with it.  
  
"What did we tell you, Hooper? Ignore them! They're going to annoy us for fun!"  
  
"Sorry, Mr. Harris, sir," Hooper sputtered out, "I-I'll do that next time."  
  
"Yeah, you bette-"  
  
"What's your name?" the nineteen year old suddenly asked out of the blue, interrupting the senior 'Friends of Humanity' member.  
  
He ignored him.  
  
Pietro Maximoff a.k.a Quicksilver, was NOT to be ignored. He was after all, a very social person.  
  
"Harris, did I hear? HAIRY Harris? No? Well, it should be, your arms are pretty hairy. Reminds me of a guy I knew."  
  
The senior slammed the driver's side door shut. "Trask and Gyrich ought to be back by now in the limousine."  
  
He stepped on the gas pedal and they sped off toward their destiny.  
  
Meanwhile Pietro was still talking.  
  
"Hairy. Hairy. You're awfully hairy, Harry. Hee. What if your name WAS Harry, as in H-A-R-R-Y but not the hairy like when you're REALLY hairy like the guy I knew, and you're name actually IS Harry, but not hairy." He rambled on, confusing both the FoH members even as they tried to ignore him.  
  
"Do you know the hairy guy I knew? Have you seen him? He's vicious. Kinda like a dog. Don't mess with him if you ever cross him, or he'll tear you to shreds. Literally. Almost tore my intestines out one time when I hit him in the face with an egg when we were T-Ping his house for Halloween. Actually he lives in a mansion, or lived, I dunno. But anyways, this one lady that lived there stopped him. She wasn't hairy. Now HE was pretty hairy. Have you met him? He was hairy so would you know?"  
  
"Is there some sort of Hairy-Club or something? Cause I know another guy who was also really hairy. Boy, did he have a temper too. Reminded me of a lion though, or an over-grown cat. Now HE was hairy. Boy, never met anybody more hairy that him. 'Cept for this one guy, he was even HAIRIER but he wasn't all snappy at us like those two hairy fellas were. He was BLUE and he was a science dork. Kinda nice though. Had really corny jokes. But he was hairy and that's all that matters."  
  
"Mutie, I'm only going to tell you once," warned Harris, whose name was NOT Harry, "Shut-up."  
  
There were a few moments of silence.  
  
"So IS there a hairy club?"  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
A/N- Chapter's a little shorter than the last one, I know. I really hope I get a positive feedback on this story, since I actually have a plot already. I think. Pietro isn't the only character in this story so don't worry. I don't know WHY you would worry, but just don't.  
  
Anonymous- Actually, you pretty much have to have red eyes. When you're albino you have no coloration, so that counts the eye pigment. Even humans. Thanks for reviewing though, I appreciate it.  
  
Don't forget to review! Constructive criticism appreciated! 


	3. Cells and Familiar Faces

Disclaimer- I do not own any familiar names that have appeared in X-Men Evolution or Marvel Comics. The poem in this story is called 'Sea Lullaby' by Elinor Wylie. I do not own 'The Lion King'  
  
Author's Notes- Sorry, this chapter has a few cuss words in it. If you're uncomfortable with that, I tried to keep it to a minimum.  
  
Chapter Three- Cells and Familiar Faces  
  
No one rebelled as the FoH members escorted them in. What would they struggle for? They knew if they fought or struggled in any way they would dig themselves a deeper hole than what they were already in.  
  
To be honest, they were scared. This was one of the most frightening things that had ever happened to either of them.  
  
Todd Tolensky had never been so afraid in his life. He ordered himself not to shake. He was sure the guard had some sort of smirk on his face as he felt the Toad's whole body quiver under his hand.  
  
They led them down a long hallway. All Todd could concentrate on was that the clicking of the feet on the floor matched the thumping of his heart.  
  
They continued walking. The only thing Todd looked at was his feet as they walked down the dark slate tiles. His eyes moved forward slightly and watched the other pairs of footsteps walking.  
  
A bald agent reached to his side and pulled out a black walkie-talkie. He pressed a button on it and static could be heard at first. "Kolinsky here. We got the mutants. Bringing them down now. Over."  
  
They continued walking.  
  
Todd finally had the courage to look up and at the other companions. Ahead of him was a woman he recognized as Sheila Dunphrey, and next to her was the very tall Peter Stusche. To Todd's right was Marla Conner, who was only four foot eleven inches and twenty-three years old. He chanced a look behind him and saw Niles Singer, but he was told sharply to turn his head around. So to his left must be Pietro.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye he saw him. He inclined his head slightly to his left to look at him better. His whole face from the nose and down and to his chest was covered in dried blood from a very obvious heavy nosebleed. He didn't seem bothered that he was covered with blood, which surprised Todd. Pietro was always a neat and tidy person- even though he had done little to nothing when they were 'cleaning' their house- and he especially always kept up a neat appearance. He was staring straight ahead, seemingly seeing nothing. Todd wondered if he was as afraid as he was at the moment.  
  
The mutants and the agents went through a steel door and down a staircase. The walls were clean, the floor and stairs were shiny, and the rails didn't even have any smudges or fingerprints on them. They kept walking down the flights of stairs.  
  
They were led through a door to their right and the wall color became beige and the floor color some shade of teal. The lights above their heads were flickering and there were other hallways and doors. They were led to the right again down another hallway and then to the left.  
  
They kept going when they were finally led to a room. Inside the room were five more agents. They were holding guns in their hands and they glared at the mutants that entered with such loathing that it seemed to freeze the room with the coldness of the stare.  
  
Three men came in through the other door across the room. Two Todd recognized as Gyrich and Trask. The third he did not.  
  
"Stryker," said Trask, "these are the mutants from the prison. Sheila Dunphrey could make purple energy orbs with her hands and when she releases the energy they make a violent tremor in the room. The bigger the orb, the more violent the tremor or vibration is. Peter Stusche can stretch any part of his body for a certain length. Marla Conner has abnormally high agility and super strength. Pietro Maximoff has super speed, so his legs are stronger than most people's put together. Niles Singer can stun you just by looking at him, and Todd Tolensky is basically like an amphibian. He hops great distances; he could grab onto anything with his tongue, climb walls, and shoot slime out of his mouth. He also has a very low hygiene."  
  
Stryker looked at the six mutants in front of him. He turned to Pietro, stared at him straight in the eye, and suddenly impacted his fist in his gut, sending Pietro doubling over with tears in his eyes and giving him a coughing fit.  
  
The agent holding Pietro made him immediately stand upright. Stryker hit him again. He then spat at his feet.  
  
"I think we should lock them up now," Stryker suggested to Trask and Gyrich. The agents then shoved the mutants in front of them and led them to even lower floors.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Pietro was led to a dark and grubby cell. The walls underground were made of cement or concrete and had stains on them. In some spots, there was water dripping. He vaguely felt the handcuffs being released from his wrists. He was the only person who was forced into this cell and he watched as the last two mutants were led further down the hall. He felt like crying.  
  
Suddenly he heard a scuffling noise in a corner. His head snapped to the general direction from where it came.  
  
"Who-Who's there?" he called out feebly.  
  
The lights flickered on. In the back corner to his left was a young woman whose hand hovered above a light switch. Her hair was long and red but slightly matted. She turned her head towards him and he saw a very pretty face and blue-green eyes. A face he knew. . .  
  
"Grey? Jean Grey?" He voiced in disbelief.  
  
She gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Pietro. It's good to see you again."  
  
He was actually glad she was here. Him, Pietro Maximoff, was glad that *Jean Grey* was there with him. Someone he knew besides Toad was here. . .  
  
"How-How'd you get here?" he asked, crawling over to her. She was wearing a gray suit much like his orange one from jail. There was a patch that was stitched on where the left breast was on her outfit. It read: JG010247  
  
"I was walking from the mall with Amara, Roberto, Jubilee, and Bobby. I was getting a birthday present for Scott so he wasn't with me," her voice choked a bit. "They caught them too. They just. . . jumped us. We didn't have a chance to defend ourselves."  
  
"We didn't either. Todd and I shouldn't have even been in prison. We were at the wrong place at the wrong time. . ." Pietro told her, the image of the memory flashing across his mind's eye.  
  
* * * "Come on Todd! We need to get home so Lance won't kill us," Pietro walked ahead of Todd, carrying groceries. Todd was struggling with a few bags behind him. They both had extra cash in their pockets that they didn't have when they first left the house.  
  
"I'm trying, yo!" Todd muffled reply came.  
  
"Hurry up! Must I slow my pace down for *everyone*?" Pietro snapped. He slowed down for Todd, but spotted several police cars by the town's bank.  
  
"Hey, Toad!" he called back, "I'll be over there. I'm gonna go check it out!"  
  
Using his super speed he was there in about a millisecond. He was looking around and a little while later Todd came up behind him, panting.  
  
"What happened?" Todd asked.  
  
"How am I supposed to know?" Pietro snapped irritably.  
  
"I wasn't blaming you!" Todd snarled back.  
  
They found themselves suddenly tackled to the ground. A foot was placed on their backs holding each of them down and a gun was trained at the back of their head.  
  
"You have the right to remain silent," an angry voice said, "Anything you say can be used against you."  
  
"What'd we do, yo?" shrieked Todd as the officer holding him down roughly grabbed his arms and yanked them behind his back, putting manacles on him.  
  
"You were at the scene of the crime. You could have robbed this bank. Check their pockets." They felt the extra bills being pulled out of their pockets from when they were pick-pocketing for some cash earlier. "Bring them in."  
  
"What!" Pietro yelled, his temper rising. "We didn't do a fucking thing! What the hell is going on?! What are you doing?"  
  
"They're mutants, they had to have something to do with the bank robbery." One of the officers said.  
  
"We didn't do anything!" Todd hollered as the officer pushed his head down while he was being shoved forcefully in the car. The same was done to Pietro.* * *  
  
"How long have you been here, Jean?" Pietro asked the redhead after he was done reminiscing about the day he and Todd were arrested.  
  
Jean cocked her head to the side. "About two weeks."  
  
Pietro was about to say something when a voice in the other corner was chanting some kind of verse:  
  
The old moon is tarnished  
With smoke of the flood,  
The dead leaves are varnished  
With color like blood,  
  
The voice belonged to a little girl of about nine with tan skin and black hair. She seemed to have been here longer than the others.  
  
Jean looked at the little girl. "That's Nala. Her mother named her after the lion in 'The Lion King'. She'll say some poems once in awhile."  
  
A treacherous smiler  
With teeth white as milk,  
A savage beguiler  
In sheathings of silk,  
  
The sea creeps to pillage,  
She leaps on her prey;  
A child of the village  
Was murdered today.  
  
Pietro watched, mesmerized, as the little girl's dull dark eyes began to brighten.  
  
She came up to meet him  
In a smooth golden cloak,  
She choked him and beat him  
To death, for a joke.  
  
Her bright locks were tangled,  
She shouted for joy,  
With one hand she strangled  
A strong little boy.  
  
He watched, as the little girl seemed to become more alive, as the corners of her lips tugged up slightly as she rehearsed the poem from memory.  
  
Now in silence she lingers  
Beside him all night  
To wash her long fingers  
In silvery light.  
  
Her eyes turned to Pietro when she finished her poem.  
  
"My name is Nala and I am nine," she said cheerfully. "That was called 'Sea Lullaby'. Momma used to sing it to me every night before I went to sleep."  
  
She suddenly broke down in heart-wrenching sobs.  
  
And all Pietro and Jean could do was watch, as the world seemed to change around them; no longer peaceful and no longer carefree or safe. It wasn't like what it was when they were in high school, and they had to learn to accept that.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
A/N- I hoped you liked this chapter. As you noticed, I had a little point- of-view thingy from Todd. But unfortunately I cannot stay away from Pietro for too long. Please read & review and check out my other stories! 


	4. The Search for Le Diable Blanc

Disclaimer- I own nothing that you may not recognize.  
  
Summary- Lance finds out about Todd and Pietro. Meanwhile, the FoH has learned of a new mutant and wants to capture him. The search for Le Diable Blanc.  
  
Author's Note- Lance swears in here, just a warning. Some other people do to, but it's mostly Lance. This is my best chapter. Boy, Gambit could sure make things more interesting.  
  
Chapter Four- The Search for Le Diable Blanc  
  
Lance Alvers walked quickly down the hallway to Harold Connelly's office. Stopping at the door and scowling at the letters on it, he barged in without warning.  
  
"Where are they?" he demanded banging his fist on the paper-strewn desk.  
  
Mr. Connelly jumped and looked at the brown haired mutant. His jowls quivered. "W-What?"  
  
"Where. Are. They." Lance hissed through gritted teeth. The building trembled slightly.  
  
"How did you get here, Mr. Alvers?" Connelly demanded, slowly standing up.  
  
Lance glared at him. "Where the fuck are they?!"  
  
"They're gone," Connelly growled.  
  
"WHERE!" Lance lost whatever patience he had and kicked the desk. The building trembled again.  
  
"Trask and Gyrich took them!" Connelly shouted back at him, his spit nearly hitting the rock-tumbler's face.  
  
Lance stared at him, his jaw slightly open. He blinked a couple of times and looked at the ground. Rubbing the back of his neck, he whispered, "They took them where?"  
  
Connelly sighed, "Concentration camp. I don't know where."  
  
Lance's head snapped back up. His eyes narrowed to almost slits and mouthed the words, "Concentration camps," silently. He suddenly let out a snarl and a few things slid off the shelves from the sudden earthquakes.  
  
"Why the fuck didn't you stop them?" he snarled, grabbing Connelly by his shirt collar and pulling his face mere inches away from his.  
  
Connelly laughed bitterly, "What was I suppose to do, Mr. Alvers? I don't care what happens to them. I'd leave now, they might pick your powers up."  
  
Lance let go of Connelly and shoved him away. Glaring at him, he turned to leave. But then he stopped, turned around, and walked briskly back to the desk and threw all the papers around.  
  
"Hey!" Connelly protested as all the important files and other things were being disorganized and mixed up. It would take hours to resort them all back to their original files.  
  
With a satisfied smirk, Lance brushed his hands together and walked out, but not before sending another violent tremor through the whole building and a hearty, "Fuck off!" More papers and other objects fell from their respective places.  
  
Connelly was kneeling on the floor and shuffling the papers into one pile and he growled. He wished those mutants were to be rid of, and soon.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
He sat on a barstool having his third drink. Two shot glasses were standing upside down in front of him and he gulped the third one down, and set it on top of the first two making some sort of pyramid.  
  
His messy brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the shorter strands falling untidily into his face. He was extremely tan and handsome, and very well built. Covering his eyes were very expensive sunglasses, which were stolen of course but that was beside the point. He lazily lit the cigarette that was dangling from his lips with a match and puffed and inhaled the cancer-causer. Shaking his wrist with the match between his fingers, the flame went out.  
  
This man was a mutant, and he could be a dangerous one at that. He could be an obvious one too, if he wasn't careful. The only thing he really needed were the sunglasses that covered his devil eyes, red irises over black sclera. By touching a non-living object he could charge it up with kinetic energy, causing the object to explode on impact.  
  
He was Remy Lebeau. Or Gambit, as some other people liked to call him. Of course, he had a lot of names. Gumbo, Swamp rat, Idiot, Cajun, just to name a few. Well, he had those nicknames ever since he joined the X-Men just a year and a half ago. He, of course, was not an idiot but a very smooth talker and a very skilled thief. He was the Prince of Thieves.  
  
He was Le Diable Blanc. The White Devil.  
  
"Un autre celui, l'homme," he said to the bartender.  
  
"Speak English, Remy," the bartender said. He worked at Harry's and he knew the Cajun in front of him. Not well, but well enough.  
  
The Cajun put of his ever-arrogant smirk, "Ano'ter one, Bob."  
  
The bartender sighed and gave Remy another shot. "Take it easy, there. Don't want you sleepin' over again. Harry doesn't like it when people get too drunk to get off their lazy asses."  
  
Remy just smirked and downed his fourth glass. He put it on the bottom of his pyramid. "Ano'ter," he said.  
  
The bartender just shook his head and gave Remy another. He downed that one and put it on the top row. "Jus' one more, mon ami."  
  
He got one more and gulped it down faster than the previous one. He put it on the very top, effectively finishing his pyramid.  
  
"Jus' wanted to finish dat, homme. Don' worry, Remy ain' havin' no more," he said, his words slurred just a little bit.  
  
"You better wait a while before you head back home. Have some coffee, but it's not free," and then the bartender placed a mug of black coffee in front of the thief and went to see about the other drunks.  
  
Remy Lebeau was a notorious lady's man. He avoids falling in love (although he did once) and has had many one-night stands. Of course, that was before he met Rogue, or well, got to know her. The first time he met her he tried to blow her hand off. Sure she was cold and sometimes mean, but she was getting softer and softer where he was concerned. They went on a couple of dates, and usually always had a good time. Though one time, they went to a restaurant (it wasn't expensive or anything like that), and he flirted with the waitress to lessen the price of the meal. Rogue of course got the wrong idea, yelled at him, slapped him (boy, *did* she slap hard), and stormed out. The side of his face was sore for a week.  
  
He was falling in love. There relationship couldn't be anything but platonic, but that doesn't mean he couldn't love her. If she wasn't so insecure . . .  
  
Remy shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about her. He was drinking and he shouldn't have to think about her.  
  
Remy decided to listen in the conversations around him. He knew people were giving him a weird look because he was wearing sunglasses at night and because the lights were very dim but that didn't matter to him. He just wanted to know about some of their personal life.  
  
He put his finished cigarette out on the ashtray nearest to him that looked like it couldn't hold anymore. He lit another one. Vaguely he heard more people coming in.  
  
Four men came in all clad in black. They were wearing some sort of wire that was hooked up in their ears and they had some sort of gun.  
  
Remy's eyes widened slightly. It was a tranquilizer gun. He slowly put his hand in his brown duster to see if he didn't forget his cards. No, they were there.  
  
Remy beckoned a young barmaid over. She bustled over hurriedly, her wide chocolate brown eyes were full of innocence and her dirty blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, the left over hair that was too short surrounded her round face in little curls.  
  
"Can I help you, sir?" she asked in a sweet voice.  
  
"Shh, chere," he said in a flirtatious voice, looking at the men with the guns out of the corner of his eye. "Dere be a back exit to dis place, non?"  
  
She looked confused, "Sir, you're not allowed to-"  
  
He stuffed a crisp twenty-dollar bill into her apron pocket. It wasn't his money, he pick pocketed it from the guy sitting close to him who was too drunk to notice.  
  
"You tell Remy where de exit is, chere, comprenez*?" he said to her in a low voice.  
  
She nodded, "You go through that door over there, turn right, and then there's a fire exit from there. Easy to spot."  
  
"You get back t' work now, fille,*" he whispered to her and he turned back to face the bar, looking casual. He wanted to find out who these people were.  
  
"Excuse us, sir," one of the agents said to the bartender. Bob turned around wiping a glass with a dishrag and a toothpick in his mouth.  
  
"We're looking for a mutant. Goes by Le Diable Blanc, he could be dangerous. He was quite well known in New Orleans. He probably speaks French. Last time we heard of him he was around this area," He said as if this was the most important thing in the world. "Have you seen him?"  
  
"No," Bob said gruffly even though he knew exactly whom they were talking about.  
  
"You sure?" they asked, not exactly believing him.  
  
"I might of seen him, homme," Remy swiveled around on the barstool and faced them, leaning casually back on his elbows against the bar, the cigarette still lit.  
  
"You have?" the agent asked, sounding slightly suspicious.  
  
Remy twisted the butt of the cigarette in the ashtray. He looked back at them and smirked. "He about 6'2" one hundred and seventy-five pounds?"  
  
"Yes," he said nodding.  
  
"He a handsome devil?" Remy's smirk grew wider. The agents looked confused. Then one with iron-gray hair said, "It's him."  
  
Remy closed his eyes and took off his sunglasses, folded them, and put them in one of his pockets. He opened his eyes showing them red and black.  
  
They immediately began to attack him, but they did not know that Remy was a skilled fighter. He already had dove off the stool, and did a side summersault to his feet. Moving one side of his trademark trench coat to the side, he grabbed a small metal stick, raised it a little above his head, and with an expert flick of the wrist, it lengthened to its full length.  
  
He twirled it and transported it to his right hand. He almost laughed at their shocked expressions.  
  
"All t'iefs need a weapon," he said.  
  
They all charged him trying to shoot him with the tranquilizer darts but he just whacked them out of the way with his bo-stick.  
  
"Dat de best you can do?" Remy mocked, doing a back-flip onto the bar. With a twirl of the bo-stick he knocked the gun out of one of their hands, and then hit him hard in the spot between the shoulder and the neck. He collapsed in a heap on the floor. No one noticed some of the customers fleeing from the bar and some of them were watching with great excitement, quite a few were shouting drunkenly, "Go Remy!", "All he wanted to do was drink and you ruined it for him!", and "What the *hic* going on?".  
  
One of the other agents managed to knock Remy off of the bar with one of the barstools and tried to attack him from the ground but Remy recovered quickly from the fall. He swiped out his leg, knocking the agent to his feet, and then he quickly kicked him in the temple.  
  
'Two down, two more t' go,' Remy thought with bitter amusement.  
  
Remy turned to the remaining two. "Give up?" he asked, and of course, his smirk was plastered to his face.  
  
"Rot in hell, mutie," one of them who was about thirty years old spat. And then he spat a giant loogey at Remy's feet.  
  
Remy looked down at the small puddle of spit that ALMOST landed on his expensive, but stolen, combat boots. He curled his lip slightly in disgust and looked back up at the agent with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Dat was pretty, non?" he asked and then went back to work beating the hell out of them.  
  
The iron gray haired man was easy enough to knock out but the one who likes to spit phlegm balls was not quite as easy to knock out. He seemed to be a pretty good fighter. But of course, with Remy's extremely agile and flexible and fit body, there was no way in hell he could beat him.  
  
The agent swung his fist at Remy's face, but Remy just as easily bent back to block it. The agent swung at Remy again, and again Remy dodged it by moving to his right, but the agent did something that he did not expect. He swung his left leg out and it collided into Remy's side, and then he went to punch Remy in the jaw. He hit it.  
  
"Gettin' better, non?" Remy teased even though his mouth was in pain. Remy then punched the guy in the stomach, and he doubled over. He stomped his heel as hard as he could into the man's foot and then he quickly smacked his elbow up as fast as hard as he can under the man's chin. Remy definitely heard a crack and he was sure he broke a few teeth. Then, with his hand straight like he was going to do a karate-chop, he brought the hand down between the neck and the shoulder blades as hard as he could and the man crumpled to Remy's feet.  
  
"Se perd,*" Remy whispered to the man and spat in his face. He hopped over the bar and ran out the back entrance.  
  
Climbing swiftly on his motorcycle that he parked at the side, he drove off but he headed towards the woods that were close by. He followed the narrow path throw the thick foliage of the trees, small branches hitting him as he drove by. Small, innumerable scratches covered his face and hands.  
  
The woods led him to the Xavier Mansion and he drove up the driveway and the gates automatically opened for him. He kept driving until he was right at the steps to the front door.  
  
Swiftly hopping off the bike, he ran inside. He met Wolverine face to face.  
  
"What happened, Gumbo?" he growled. The Professor wheeled his way in.  
  
"We got a problem, Professor," Remy said looking at the bald man in the wheel chair straight in the eyes.  
  
"Tell me in the study, Remy," the professor said and headed his way there.  
  
Remy followed quickly after shoving Logan out of his way.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
A/N- Well what do ya know? No Pietro in this chapter! Actually, I think this is my best chapter yet. It's my longest also, for all three stories. Hoped you liked the Gambit action! But really, aren't you proud that I can manage without putting Pietro in one chapter?  
  
Pietro- (examining self in a hand mirror) What did you say about me?  
  
Translations- Comprenez- understand Fille- girl Se perd- get lost  
  
R&R!!! 


	5. Miscellaneous

Disclaimer- I don't own anything you might find familiar.  
  
Author's Note- Some swearing in here. I'm going to try to make this chapter seven pages at the least, so I'm going to have quite a few events in here and point-of-views. That's why the chapter is called Miscellaneous.  
  
Chapter Five- Miscellaneous  
  
The study was silent when Gambit finished his tale. The professor stared at Gambit intently and Scott looked doubtful. Rogue's face was kept carefully blank, and also the brand new X-Man Piotr Rasputin's. The others looked horrified and Logan just looked like Logan.  
  
"Are you sure they were looking specifically for you, Remy?" asked the professor before the silence became too awkward.  
  
Gambit took a long drag from his cigarette, "Well, if dere be anot'er le Diable Blanc that was from N'awlins, den dere might be a chance dey weren't after me."  
  
"I should have guessed they'd be looking for *you* Gambit," Scott muttered to himself, but his statement didn't go unheard.  
  
"What was dat, homme?" asked Gambit nonchalantly as he tapped his finger on the end of his cigarette, watching the ashes flutter into the ashtray that was put in there.  
  
"I said," Scott boldly exclaimed louder, "that I should of guessed they'd be after you."  
  
"Why's dat?" Gambit asked as he strolled from his spot where he was standing by the fireplace and sat next to Rogue on the couch. Rogue just stared at Scott, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.  
  
"You're a criminal," Scott said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're a thief. I know that you have my credit card, and by the way, I would like that back. They'd want you to be done with. You're not good for anything but being an assassin. And some people wonder why you were kicked out of your own home."  
  
Scott never got to finish saying everything he wanted, because a fist interrupted him and he fell on the floor, holding his bruising jaw.  
  
"You bring dat up again, homme," Gambit whispered threateningly, "You get much worse. And I am no assassin."  
  
"Enough," the professor said sternly, stopping the two from fighting further.  
  
Logan caught their attention now, however. Cocking his head to the side, he let out a soft growl and popped his claws out, heading towards the door.  
  
"Logan?" Ororo asked from her spot on one of the chairs.  
  
"Stay here," came the reply as he walked out of the study and towards the direction of the stairs.  
  
Downstairs they heard some shouts and furniture was being knocked over. The struggling soon stopped, however.  
  
"Should Ah go an' see who Logan killed?" Rogue asked from next to Remy, turning around to face the door. Her hand rested on Gambit's knee as she did so and he smirked but didn't say anything.  
  
The professor shook his head. "No, that is not necessary, Rogue."  
  
Logan came up ten minutes later with Lance in front of him, who was looking all disheveled.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Alvers," the professor said as he wheeled himself over to Lance. "What brings you here?"  
  
"They took Pietro and Todd." He growled. "I want you to find them."  
  
The professor raised an eyebrow. "Who took Pietro and Todd, Lance?"  
  
"You know who," Lance snarled, and behind him Logan gave him a warning growl.  
  
"Did the Friends of Humanity take them Lance?" The professor sighed looking at the young and angry mutant in front of him.  
  
"If that's what they're called," Lance spat, "The ones that take them to concentration camps?"  
  
Xavier nodded, rubbing a hand over his bald scalp. "Yes. The FoH took some of our mutants too, as you know."  
  
"Well will you find Pietro and Todd? Use Cerebro?" Lance asked as calmly as he could, but he couldn't help but bare his teeth slightly.  
  
"I can not help you, Lance," the professor sighed.  
  
"Why not?!" Lance said in a near holler and he took a step closer to the crippled man. Scott took a few steps closer too as well as the blue mutant, Kurt Wagner. The professor told them telepathically to stay back.  
  
"I cannot use Cerebro to locate them," the professor said calmly, his eyes never leaving Lance's face.  
  
"You just don't want to help us," Lance whispered harshly, his voice and body quivering with anger, "You just want to use all your time looking for Grey and those other kids. You have to find Pietro and Todd!"  
  
"Did the others agree with you coming here?" the professor asked, looking at Lance intently.  
  
"I didn't tell them," Lance said quietly, looking away. His eyes flickered back to the professor and narrowed. "I didn't tell them because they'd over- react. You have to help me find them. Use Cerebro, anything. . ."  
  
"Lance, I already told you, we cannot use Cerebro to find them," the professor repeated, staring at Lance.  
  
Lance now closed the distance between him and the world's most powerful telepath. Gripping the armrests of the wheelchair until his knuckles turned white, Lance hissed, "You HAVE to find them."  
  
"We will help you find your friends, Lance, but we cannot do so right away- "  
  
"They're not my friends!" Lance shouted at the professor, making everyone in the room flinch slightly. Logan growled. "You HAVE to find them. You HAVE to find my brothers. Please."  
  
Lance's face looked horribly sad for a moment, and he looked away and backed away from the professor. With a hoarse voice that trembled slightly, he pleaded with him. "Please."  
  
"Lance, I already said I would help you. We are looking for the camp. There might be a chance that there are more, but it is probable that your brothers are at the same one my X-Men are at. I want to free all those mutants. I just can't use Cerebro because all of their powers have been turned off." The professor said with determination.  
  
"Logan will escort you home, Lance. We do not want you captured also. Tell Wanda, Fred, and John of what happened to them. They deserve to know, Lance." And the professor watched as Lance silently backed away from him toward the door and left. Logan looked back at Charles Xavier for a moment and growled softly as he too exited the study.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Lance could feel the stare of Wolverine between his shoulder blades as he drove home in his old and dented green jeep. He could hear the rumbling of the mutant's motorcycle as he followed him home to see if he arrived safely.  
  
Lance scowled at nothing in particular. It wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself.  
  
He could take care of himself. He always did.  
  
He was angry to begin with. Seeing Gambit again, that just made his blood boil. Seeing Magneto's other lackey there, Colossus, it just made him more enraged. Now they were Xavier's little pawns for his stupid little 'dream'. Screw that dream, it is never going to happen.  
  
He hated them. He hated the whole lot of them. He was angry at Kitty. Angry at her for breaking up with him. Angry with her for *dating* the metallic idiot. That huge bastard of a tin man.  
  
He was even more indignant that Xavier thought he needed *Wolverine* to make sure he came home safe. He didn't NEED them. Except. . .  
  
He needed them to find his brothers. He needed them to help him find Pietro and Todd. If anything ever happens to them. . .  
  
"Get a grip, Alvers," Lance scolded himself. He shouldn't worry too much. They'll find Pietro and Todd.  
  
He smiled slightly as he imagined what Todd would say: "Lance, you're fucked up, yo. Get a grip, man."  
  
He imagined what Pietro would say: "Aww. Is the wittle Wancey scared? Does he need his mommy? Well pull yourself together, you big stupid Neanderthal! You're such a pussy. So pull you're shit together, because until you do, I don't know you."  
  
And when Pietro would say that Lance would retort by saying: "I pretend I don't know you anyways, Pietro. So, it really doesn't bother me."  
  
He laughed very quietly but it died almost instantly. He missed them. He only visited them a couple times while they were at jail, not knowing when they would get out.  
  
He wondered why he stayed friends with Pietro for so long. It seemed that really all the speed demon did to Lance was call him names and insult him. Then Lance reminded himself that they had good times. They would prank together, fight each other, and get each other out of trouble. The only thing that had strained their friendship was the little 'incident' where Pietro had betrayed them. He understood in a way, it WAS his father, but that still didn't stop him from being angry with him. It took him and the others a long time to get over that.  
  
Lance slowed down as he turned into the driveway of the battered-up boarding house. It looked a lot better than it did two years ago. John had somehow managed to get a low paying job, and Wanda did too. The only one who didn't work in the household was Freddy, and if Pietro and Todd were there and not in the camps, they would be unemployed too.  
  
Lance slammed the door of his jeep shut and watch Logan turn around and head back towards the mansion. He smirked, thinking that Wolverine drove fifteen minutes just to turn right back when he got there.  
  
Lance walked inside the house. The walls were now clean and the place was less dusty. They still had the same furniture because they couldn't afford different ones.  
  
"I'm back," he called out to no one in particular.  
  
He walked in the living room to see John sprawled out on one side of the couch with his head back and his mouth wide open. He was clutching his lighter. Freddy was sitting in his special chair, eating a huge salad bowl of cereal with milk dripping down his chin. He was in his old yellow robe that was scattered with red hearts and his feet were placed the old coffee table. Lance winced slightly as the table's legs wobbled a bit under the weight.  
  
"Hi Lance," Fred said cheerfully as he switched the channel on the television. "How'd the visit go?"  
  
"Fine," he lied. He'd tell them what happened when Wanda got home. Trying to sound casual he asked, "How was your day?"  
  
"Oh it was good," Freddy exclaimed happily, absently waving his fat hand. "There was a lot a good shows on today and I made a couple of sandwiches. Wanda called and said she'd be coming late and John got fired again. Said he accidentally burned something."  
  
Lance just sighed as he plopped down on the other side of the couch. He kicked John.  
  
John stirred but did not wake up. Lance kicked him again, harder this time and then the pyromaniac yelped and jumped up.  
  
"Wot the hell did you do that foah?" he asked with his Australian accent. When John was with the Acolytes, his accent was much thicker, but now it seemed to have lessened after spending a couple of years in the states.  
  
"Why did you get fired again?" he angrily asked him. They couldn't afford to keep loosing jobs, sure they were better off than when they were first on their own but they still needed the money.  
  
"Oh, I accidentally burned a spatula er sumtin," he yawned. Stretching his arms above his head he went to go back to his nap. Lance smirked slightly. He remembered a time when Pyro said 'Oy' instead of 'I'. The 'I' was still slightly accented though.  
  
He wiped the smirk off his face and kicked John again. John snapped his blue eyes open and glared at him.  
  
"Wot do you WANT?" he growled.  
  
"You can't get fired for just burning a spatula, Pyro," Lance hissed at him. Pyro never liked to be called by his birth name. He said it reminded him of his crappy childhood.  
  
"Awlroight, I burned down a small section of the place," John yawned again. Placing his hands on top of each other to make some sort of pillow, his lighter resting in between them, John placed his 'hand pillow' on the back of the couch and rested his head there.  
  
Lance just stared at the schizophrenic pyromaniac and shook his head in disbelief. Couldn't the Aussie manage to keep one job by NOT burning down the place?  
  
Lance made himself comfortable on the corner of the couch to take a nap himself. He had had a long day. Being yelled at by his boss, then driving three hours to see how Pietro and Todd were doing only to discover that they were gone. Then driving almost two and a half hours back to the X- Mansion, then another fifteen minutes back to the boarding house. Stuff like that could really tire a guy out.  
  
Lance woke up two hours later. John was still passed out on the couch and Freddy had made himself another sandwich. He vaguely heard the front door open and then slammed shut. It must have been Wanda because someone was stomping angrily up the stairs. Wanda always got dressed when she got home because she didn't want to be seen in her yellow and white working clothes.  
  
Fifteen minutes later they heard Wanda coming back down the stairs again and in that time Lance and Freddy decided to watch 'Home Improvement' on the television.  
  
Wanda scowled at them as usual when she entered. "I had a bad day so don't even talk to me."  
  
Lance sighed. Well, he was going to have to tell them all the bad news. He wondered if he would live through the night.  
  
"Well, sorry to hear that Wanda, but I have to tell you all something," Lance inhaled and held his breath to see their reactions. Wanda was giving him a death glare, Freddy was chewing his sandwich, but staring at him all the same, and John was still sleeping. He kicked him.  
  
"WOT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT NOW?!" He screamed angrily, bolting out of his sleeping position.  
  
"I have to tell you all something," Lance sighed. He then looked at Wanda. "You should sit down."  
  
"I'll stand, thank you," She said coldly. Lance took a deep breath and began.  
  
"When I went to the jail earlier, Pietro and Todd weren't there. Trask and Gyrich took them. I went to the X-Men and asked if they would help me find them, and they said they would but they can't start right away." He paused and looked at their reactions. Freddy's sandwich was still in his mouth, but he never finished taking a bite. John's eyes were widened slightly and his mouth was hanging open. His face looked slightly dumb and confused. Wanda's face had paled considerably.  
  
She closed her eyes slowly and took at deep breath. "Where were they taken to, Lance?" she asked softly.  
  
"Concentration camp," Lance murmured and looked down at his hands. He heard Fred gasp and John swear. Wanda was silent.  
  
Then suddenly the screen on the TV cracked and the insides of it exploded and the lights flickered slightly. The room started to tremble violently and Lance wasn't the one who was causing it.  
  
John jumped up and ran over to Wanda. Wrapping his arms around her he whispered soothingly, "Shh it's okay, love. We'll find them. We'll find them and get them outta theah."  
  
Two hot, pearly tears leaked out of Wanda's sapphire eyes. Resting her head against John's shoulder she said in a very dangerous and frightening tone, "If anything happens to my brother, they will be a victim to the full wrath of the Scarlet Witch."  
  
"Yes, yes, love. And I'll burn 'em foah ya," John said. Wanda and John had dated very briefly before but they claimed that both of them were too crazy to be together, so they called it off. They still remained very good friends, however.  
  
Lance had gotten up from his spot. "Don't worry, Wanda, I threatened Baldy if he didn't help us find them. We'll find them."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
It had been three weeks since they had tattooed his arm. It had been four since he got there.  
  
It was cold. It was so cold. . .  
  
There was no heat in the cells. The materials of their gray bodysuits were ruff, and the tattoo they put on his arm burned.  
  
Pietro shook in his corner of the cell as he gripped his left forearm, trying to make the pain subside. His teeth chattered. He cracked his eyes open.  
  
Jean was sleeping in her spot in the corner. She hardly looked peaceful. Her once beautiful shining red hair was now matted and dirty. Pietro wondered how terrible he looked.  
  
Pietro eyes searched the cell, as if looking for something. The only other occupant was Jean. Nala has long been gone, never to come back.  
  
The place was filthy. A large bucket was over in the darkest corner of the cell, used for their waste. They both had a dirty metal bowl for their food and water. They were even allowed to brush their teeth. To cleanse themselves they were taken to a room once a week and hosed down with icy cold water.  
  
Pietro's icy blue eyes, which long ago had hardened and grew cold, looked down at his forearm. He pushed up the rough fabric of the sleeve and looked at his number.  
  
PM1040141  
  
He would have to remember it. It was already engraved in his mind. PM1040141.  
  
PM1040141.  
  
PM1040141.  
  
PM1040141.  
  
For the first two weeks he had repeated it over and over again to himself. Jean had told him to if he wanted to live. Her and Nala's last cellmate had not remembered it and they never saw him again. There was more screaming that night than usual.  
  
Pietro's mouth quirked up in a mirthless smirk. Now he was even more like his father than he even wanted to be. They both were in concentration camps and now they both have numbers on their arms.  
  
The only thing different was that Pietro had a dull red colored barcode to the right of his number name.  
  
Pietro's eyes flickered to Jean once again. He never thought that this would happen in a lifetime, but Pietro was growing quite fond of Jean. He needed a friend right now and who not better than his cellmate?  
  
Pietro worried about Todd. He worried what they were doing to him. He worried how he was handling himself. It would all be all right if he knew Todd was fine.  
  
Jean stirred slightly. Opening her blue-green eyes she looked over at the speedster and smiled weakly. "You should sleep too, you know. Take advantage."  
  
Pietro just stared at her. "I can't sleep. I have to know if Toad is okay."  
  
Jean straightened herself up in a sitting position. "He probably is." It was a lie, and they both knew it. Todd's case was just as bad as theirs.  
  
"How could it change so suddenly? We were accepted once, although unwillingly, but we were accepted. What happened?" Pietro suddenly asked Jean. Their eyes met, and an understanding went between them.  
  
Jean looked sadly at him. "Some people suddenly grew backbones. There are still humans out there that accept us. But right now, people like Trask are brainwashing them into thinking we are all psychopathic killers, when really, we're not. Our world's going through some drastic changes, Pietro, and we need to get used to it or die."  
  
Pietro looked down at his hands, which were placed in his lap. He then muttered quietly, "And I thought it was bad enough when we were fighting Apocalypse. Now though, fighting him seems like a piece of cake compared to nowadays."  
  
Jean sighed, "Somehow, I don't think that's the last we will ever hear of him. He'll come back, but right now, we can't afford him to. We're just not in the right shape or predicament."  
  
Pietro sighed and turned his head to his right to face the stonewall beside him. "I miss being a young, arrogant adolescent with no cares in the world. Playing pranks on Kelly, bringing home hot girls, dating hot girls. I miss it all."  
  
Jean was silent for a moment. Then she said, "I miss Scott. I miss all the X-Men. I miss my sister, my parents. Hey, I even miss fighting you guys."  
  
Pietro smirked slightly. "Kelly's mayor. Next I'll bet he'll be senator. Wonder when that would happen?"  
  
Jean laughed slightly. "When that happens, mutants will be in trouble indeed. Lets just hope Kelly's not going to be senator. Or worse, president. I was never fond of him for just hating mutants. It's not like we chose to be this way."  
  
Pietro turned his head to face her and flashed her a ghost of a grin. "Oh, please, you just have a grudge against him because he took away all the soccer trophies you won for Bayville High."  
  
Jean looked indignant. "I do not! Sure I was really upset with him, but that's not the reason! He was just really unfair with all of us."  
  
Pietro snorted. "Sure, whatever you say, Grey."  
  
Jean huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, resting her elbows on her knees and put on a fake pout.  
  
Then a question that had been bugging Pietro for the longest time ever popped up in his head. He then looked at Jean and asked, "Why didn't you have a codename?"  
  
Jean looked surprised. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean," Pietro said, "why didn't you have a codename like all your other teammates?"  
  
Jean looked thoughtful for a moment. "I did. Before Kurt came, that is. Only Scott, the Professor, and Beast know. I never told anybody else."  
  
Pietro looked surprised. He raised an eyebrow. "What was it?" he asked.  
  
The corner of Jean's mouth twitched. "Marvel Girl."  
  
"Why didn't you have one when Fuzz-boy came?" Pietro asked curiously.  
  
"Because I thought that it wasn't really necessary to have one. So I just went by the name my parents gave me." Jean said.  
  
"Oh," was all Pietro could say. Then he asked, "Why would Beast know? I thought he came and joined you later?"  
  
"He was part of the X-Men a few years before Kurt came. It was before he got all of his fur though. He left when me and Scott were sophomores."  
  
"Oh," Pietro said lamely. "I didn't know that."  
  
Jean smiled. "Well, you wouldn't would you? No one ever told anybody."  
  
"When did Storm and Wolverine join?"  
  
"Storm joined just a little while before Beast left. Wolverine came the summer before my junior year. He did stop by a couple of times before that, though. I was a little frightened of him at first. But really, he's just a big old softy. Don't ever let him hear you say that though, or you'll probably find yourself hanging from your thumbs on the ceiling in a dungeon."  
  
"Yeah, well I kinda figured that," Pietro muttered.  
  
A few moments passed by in a comfortable silence. Idly, Pietro fingered the metal collar around his neck. He would of gotten out of here a long time ago if it wasn't for the stupid collar. Around Jean's neck was one too.  
  
"I dunno, but wearing these inhibitor collars kinda make me a bit claustrophobic," he stated as he twisted it around on his neck.  
  
Jean just smiled slightly and turned to face the bars of the cell, watching whatever would be going on outside of the cell.  
  
They needed to get out of there.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
A/N- Well, here ya go folks! My longest, and best, I think, chapter yet. Over ten pages! 4,007 words, not counting the author notes and chapter title. Geesh, this was a lot of work. Remember to review! They keep me sane and alive!  
  
Thanks for all who reviewed! 


	6. Misery

Disclaimer- I own nothing that looks familiar. If it doesn't, then I probably own it.  
  
Author's Note- Ok, I decided we need some Todd in here, so here's a lot of Todd. Swears up ahead. Actually, this chapter might be R because one of the agents in here swears *a lot*. Not to mention that Todd has quite the potty mouth.  
  
Chapter Six- Misery  
  
Todd fell into a depression for the first few weeks he had been there. Now, realizing a month ago that it would just get him killed, he toughened up. He had to survive for the others. He had to survive to make sure that Pietro was okay.  
  
He never was strong. He was always the follower of the group, while Lance and Pietro assumed roles as leader. Although he was angry with Pietro for the longest time after the little 'incident', he couldn't hate him now. Pietro didn't deserve this torture, no matter what he did in the past.  
  
Once, when they were to be given virus shots when they were at the prison, Pietro freaked out once he saw the needle. He ran around the small room, knocking things over, and trying to escape. Five men had to hold him down while the doctor stabbed his arm with the thing. There were two other prisoners in the small room with Todd and Pietro, waiting their turn. They were absolutely shocked.  
  
Later that night, Pietro had confessed to Todd about his fear of needles. He said it started awhile after his father had started to inject him with them. He was afraid of them because they had always brought him and Wanda pain, and they caused Wanda to be angry and not in control of her powers which caused her to be sent away. Not that she would remember any of it.  
  
He hoped Pietro hadn't been the victim of Trask's needles while they were there. He just hoped that it would be a lot longer before he was. They had been there for almost two months, after all.  
  
Todd had a tattoo on his arm. He wouldn't actually call it a tattoo, but a brand. There were a set of numbers and a barcode to the right of it on his left forearm. The numbers read: TT8090109. He had memorized it now, it became more like a third name to him, Todd and Toad being his first and second.  
  
There were three other people in his cell with him. There was a woman named Clarice Ferguson, who's eyes were white and showed no sign of pupils, and her hair was a mix between pink and purple. She had some sort of teleportation powers that Todd didn't even bother to understand. Another was a girl a few years younger than him named Paige Guthrie. He asked if maybe she was related to a 'Cannonball' and she nodded her head and said that Sam Guthrie was her older brother. Her powers were some sort of shape- shifting ones. She explained that if she was to tear off her outermost layer of skin she could shape-shift. It generally freaked Todd out, but in a way, he thought it was cool. The last one was Russell Collins, whom everybody called 'Rusty'. He had bright red hair and he could shoot flames from his hands.  
  
Todd never really talked to any of them. He didn't bother to get close to them because he might get hurt if something happened to them, it was bad enough that Pietro was there.  
  
"Hey!" shouted a voice from outside of the cell and then they heard a club whack on the bars.  
  
"Git over here, ye fuckin' frog," he yelled, banging on the bars even louder. Todd sighed and rolled his eyes, even though he was frightened. He walked over there casually.  
  
"Whattaya want?" he asked. The agent spit at his feet.  
  
"Yer ta come wit me," he said. From the sound of his accent he sounded Irish. So Trask, Gyrich, and Stryker were going global now?  
  
"Yeah, well, why don't you go and get drunk, while I stay here, yo?" Todd said, wrongfully stereotyping the Irish.  
  
A club banged on the bars right in front of where Todd's face was. He gasped and jumped back.  
  
"Ye shut yer fuckin' mouth!" he yelled. Then he opened the door and yanked Todd out roughly by the collar of his gray suit.  
  
"McCormick!" another agent shouted down the hall, walking faster to get to them.  
  
"What?" McCormick snarled looking up at the agent coming to him. It was a pretty Asian woman. Although she was small, she looked like she could kick some ass.  
  
"There's no manhandling the prisoners unless ordered to!" she snapped at him. She seemed to have higher authority out of the two.  
  
"Trask wanted the fuckin' frog 'ere," he muttered, handcuffing Todd.  
  
"You watch your language when you're around me, Conner," she said and looked at him harshly. He scowled at her and then she just stepped aside and continued her way down the hall.  
  
"Fuck ye, *Allison*," he muttered darkly when she was out of earshot, emphasizing her name. He hated it when she bossed him around like that. Why couldn't she act like she used to?  
  
Todd had looked between the two amusedly. "Girlfriend?" he asked jokingly.  
  
McCormick scowled at him. "Ye shut yer fuckin' mouth if ye know what's good fer ye."  
  
"Guess she's not then," Todd said.  
  
"Ye shut yer fuckin' mouth, ye fuckin' frog," McCormick snarled.  
  
"Actually, they call me Toad," Todd corrected. McCormick just scowled at him.  
  
"You know, I miss my home, yo," Todd said with a hint of sadness in his voice. He knew that the Irishman would not hurt him; he just wanted to intimidate him. He knew that some of the agents really didn't believe what Trask and the others said about mutants.  
  
"Ye better shut that shit hole of yers," McCormick growled, although he seemed less mean than he had before.  
  
"You got any brothers or sisters, yo?" Todd asked. "I don't have any blood siblings, although one of my best friends is here, and I count him as a brother. I have two others."  
  
McCormick was silent, his face unreadable. Then he answered, "I have a twin and a sister."  
  
Todd didn't speak for a while; he was so surprised that the Irishman answered civilly.  
  
"What are their names?" Todd finally asked after a short silence.  
  
"Later," McCormick said as he stopped in front of a door and then opened it. He led them to what would be Todd's misery.  
  
"McCormick? Ah, yes, just after his examination and when you escort him back to his cell you may go on your break. Be sure to be back in exactly an hour." A man in a white lab coat said.  
  
Todd was shoved down onto a metal examining table and a tranquilizer gun was pointed at his back just in case he tried anything funny, and there was also three men surrounding him to restrain him if needed. He stayed silent and unmoving, keeping his face neutral.  
  
The man in the lab coat (Todd recognized him as Trask), checked Todd's pulse, blood pressure, ears, mouth, eyes, reflexes, and for some reason, joints.  
  
"Hmm," Trask grunted.  
  
"Mr. Tolensky, May I ask you to demonstrate how you use your tongue?" Trask asked coldly.  
  
"Would strangle you with it, yo, if I didn't have this fuckin' collar around my neck," Todd snarled at him.  
  
Trask growled and backhanded Todd across the face. Todd, furious, went to jump at him, but the three men that had surrounded him jumped in and held him tightly to his spot, McCormick included.  
  
Then Trask leaned in very close to Todd's face and hissed, "I have very little patience for your kind, freak, and right now is no exception. You will obey me or you will seriously regret it."  
  
Todd grinned mirthlessly, "What do you have against me that will make me regret any of my actions? You deserve whatever shit you get."  
  
"You have a little buddy here also, do you not?" Trask sneered. Fear flickered across Todd's face for only a millisecond before he quickly covered it up. Trask grinned coldly, "Pietro Maximoff. I can't wait to see him."  
  
Trask then took out of his pocket a little key, and he turned the collar around Todd's neck around so the keyhole was facing him.  
  
"Now, you will cooperate or you might as well say goodbye to dear Pietro. He'll either be dead or too insane to live properly or to remember you," Trask said. He stared Todd in the face for a few more seconds before slipping the key into the keyhole and with a click, it unlocked. He gently tugged at either end of the lock and it pulled apart, and he took it off and set it close by.  
  
"Grab that cup over there with your tongue, freak," Trask demanded, pointing over to a plastic measuring cup over on a table at a corner.  
  
Todd glared at Trask before saying, "Maybe if you don't call me a 'freak' or a 'monster', yo, I just might."  
  
Trask rolled his eyes. "Fine, *Mr. Tolensky*, why don't you grab that cup over there with your tongue?"  
  
Todd gave him a death glare for a few seconds more and then turned to stare at the cup. Looking at it, he judged the distance from where he was sitting to where the cup was placed and, a second later, a long green and slimy snake-like tongue came out of his mouth and wrapped itself around the plastic cup and brought it back until it was before Trask, slime dripping off from it.  
  
Trask raised an eyebrow and took the cup, and Todd noticed for the first time that Trask had rubber gloves on.  
  
"Interesting, although disgusting," he muttered, narrowing his eyes. "How long is your tongue?"  
  
"I dunno," Todd snapped at him rudely.  
  
"Really?" Trask asked, raising an eyebrow, "You never bothered to find out?"  
  
"I didn't think it was important taking a tape measurer and sticking my tongue out as far as it can go," Todd spat. "What was the use?"  
  
Trask glared at him. "Take him back," he said to McCormick, "I'm done with him for today."  
  
McCormick put the collar onto Todd, while Todd glared at him scathingly the whole time. McCormick's neutral expression faltered slightly. Then the Irishman grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and led him out and back the way they came from.  
  
"What are your twin and your sister's names?" Todd asked suddenly. For some reason, he wanted to know, and he knew it would comfort him somehow.  
  
McCormick looked at him sharply then let out a sigh. He said softly, "Me twin's name is Seamus and my sister's name is Colleen."  
  
"What are you doing here? You don't believe in any of this shit, do you?" Todd asked.  
  
"Fuck, I dunno what I'm doing 'ere" McCormick sighed. "I hate bein' called by me last name. I'd rather I'd be called by what Mam named me. I jus' want ta go home."  
  
"I'll call you Conner, although in private, of course, if you'd quit callin' me a fuckin' frog," Todd said to him, feeling only slightly sorry for the young Irishman behind him. It was the Toad, of course, who was in an even worse predicament.  
  
McCormick, or rather Conner's, mouth twitched up in a slight smile for a second before going blank again.  
  
They stopped outside of his cell. McCormick took off Todd's handcuffs as he pushed him, although not as rough as he would have, inside of the cell.  
  
"Whatever, Toad," he said and locked the cell.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Professor! We really gotta find her!" Sam Guthrie a.k.a Cannonball wailed desperately.  
  
"Sam! Patience is what Paige needs right now! We will not find her if we rush into things!" Professor Xavier said harshly over his shoulder to the desperate mutant. He turned back to the screen as he continued to search for the mutant known as Husk.  
  
"Ah shouldn't of let her go out alone! Not after what happened to Jean and Bobby and the others!" Sam scolded himself. He was around the age of seventeen now, his blond hair short from a recent haircut. "Ah'm so stupid."  
  
Charles just sighed. He understood Sam's desperation, he really did, but the youngster just needed to be a bit more patient. He was glad though, that Sam had less of a temper than Lance. And then Wanda . . .  
  
He shook his head, trying not to think about the little incident in which the Scarlet Witch had strolled onto the mansion's lawn and let herself in the mansion. The encounter with her and the other X-Men had not been pleasant, and he actually had to calm her down using his telepathy, she was that out of control.  
  
Now Charles was more determined than ever. It was not only Jean, Bobby, Jubilee, Amara, Roberto, or Paige that counted on him, but also Pietro and Todd and all the other mutants that were captured and locked away.  
  
Suddenly something beeped. The Professor turned to the screen and his eyes widened.  
  
He found the Toad's use of his mutant powers. He had only used them for a minute, but that minute was all he had needed.  
  
He couldn't pinpoint an exact location but he was sure it was in the area a little south of New York State, which it narrowed it down to several states.  
  
He tried to concentrate more but found he couldn't, mostly from Sam's ranting, his feelings of guilt, and that he was projecting quite strongly.  
  
"Please Sam! You're projecting!" The Professor reprimanded. Sam looked down at the floor, blushing.  
  
"Sorry," he muttered.  
  
The door to Cerebro automatically opened and Rogue walked in. Her hair was still the same length, although now she had outgrown her gothic makeup and had gotten a tan. She really was a beautiful young woman; she just covered it up during high school.  
  
"Professah," she said curtly as she walked up right next to him.  
  
"Good evening, Rogue," Charles greeted as she stood next to him and gave her a slight nod.  
  
"Fahnd anything yet?" she asked, her Mississippian accent thick. The Professor guessed it was Gambit who brought it out of her, being southern himself.  
  
"Todd used his powers very briefly, but that was all I could find," he said and pinched the bridge of his nose lightly and closed his eyes.  
  
"Tha's too bad," she said and looked down at the floor.  
  
"How have you been, Rogue?" The Professor asked her pointedly. He was talking about her psyches.  
  
"Ah'm fahne," she said tersely. Charles sighed.  
  
"I really do hope we find them soon, Paige has already been gone for almost two weeks now, and Jean and the others have been gone for even longer . . ." he trailed off.  
  
"Professor," Sam said from where he was sitting. "Is there anythin', anythin' at all that Ah can do?"  
  
"Hope," the professor said. "Hope. But look anywhere you can that you might think would be helpful: libraries, police departments, anywhere. Just look."  
  
Sam looked a little disappointed, but then he nodded and stood up, but he muttered just as he walked out of the door, "Like tha' helped anythin'."  
  
Charles almost smiled to himself. In fact, he himself was impatient with this whole ordeal.  
  
"Nevah thought ol' Cannonball here would be so impatient," Rogue regarded with some amusement, the corner of her lip curling up slightly.  
  
"Can you really blame him, Rogue?" the Professor sighed, "Can you really blame Wanda?"  
  
Rogue looked down at the floor, whatever trace of a smile that was there vanished. She said softly, "No, Ah can't. Ah don't blame any of them."  
  
"Ah hope that we find them soon, an' take the whole lot of 'em outta their misery," she whispered.  
  
"I do too, my dear Rogue," The professor sighed, taking the Cerebro helmet off of his head to take a break. "I do too."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hurrah! Another chapter done! Thanks to all who review, you really know how to make a gal feel good. xoxo!  
  
There will be no slash in this story, since I am against that, unless they were written that way or specifically said that they were gay in cannon. Or unless they are original characters. Then I would not mind. I just don't see it any other way.  
  
The only romance so far that has been hinted is Romy, and a little itsy bitsy bit of John/Wanda. But they only dated briefly. Oh, and Kitty/Piotr. But now I'm going to say that anything might not last, or might not happen, so don't get your hopes up.  
  
So, if you came this far . . . REVIEW! I'll give you a Pietro plushy, or a Gambit, or whoever the hell you want, just review. 


	7. Device

Disclaimer- If I owned them, I'd be rich, which I'm not.  
  
Chapter Seven- Device  
  
Lance let out a frustrated sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He cut it short a few weeks ago but he hadn't washed it in three days, so it was a little bit greasy.  
  
They still hadn't found anything. There was nothing that indicated that there was any sort of mutant concentration camps south of New York.  
  
They had been looking for a little over than a year and a half now. Lance even wondered if his friends were still alive.  
  
'Of course they are,' he scolded himself mentally, 'They're stronger than that. They ain't gonna let a bunch of pussies order them around.'  
  
Currently, seven other people were helping right now. Lance still couldn't believe he was working with the X-Men. He was still part of the Brotherhood, he wouldn't join the team if his life depended on it. It wasn't like he was still fawning over Kitty.  
  
Lance glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He scowled. The big oaf was with her, and of course he was as silent as a mute. He couldn't see what Kitty saw in that guy. Did they even talk to each other?  
  
Angel joined the team about eight or nine months ago, he couldn't remember. He was currently at his house in New York City, looking for information there.  
  
The Professor was of course working tirelessly with Cerebro to find the mutants. Rogue and Colossus were searching through all kinds of documents. Gambit and Kitty were looking for anything they could find on computers, since both of them could easily hack into one. Kitty did major in her computer classes, after all and then went to some sort of college where they studied with technology and crap. Lance couldn't really remember.  
  
Wanda had also been working very hard, too. Her first method was threatening to hex any suspicious looking people if they didn't say anything, but the Professor dissuaded her from doing that, telling her there were much better methods of looking.  
  
Beast was also looking for anything, being a near genius. He wasn't having much success either.  
  
Logan was doing it all the old-fashioned way: look. He just took off on his motorcycle and starting sniffing around areas. Lance hoped he was having more luck than they were.  
  
Lance sighed again and looked back at all the papers that had been printed out with Wanda. Nope. Nothing.  
  
The Professor caught their attention however, making some sort of noise that sounded like a strangled gasp and he leaned forward eagerly, squinting his eyes. Everybody was watching him now, looking at him with anxious expressions.  
  
"Professor?" Colossus asked hesitantly. So he DID speak.  
  
"Cerebro just detected a brief use of Quicksilver's powers."  
  
Lance stood up abruptly and scrambled over to the Professor; Wanda just as eagerly followed him, her face mixed with hope and worry.  
  
"It is not a clear reading, however. I have never been able to get one for him. He's simply too fast, but this is a start," the Professor said.  
  
Wanda looked disappointed. Lance admitted that he was too. Why did everything have to be like this?  
  
The Professor sighed, "I think we should take a short break. Sam wants to help look too, but he has to go to work first. We will continue searching and an hour or so."  
  
They all reluctantly nodded and the Professor pushed a button on the screen to make sure that it was still searching for the mutants while they weren't there.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Trask scowled at the man in front of him: Dr. Natasha Kolesnikov. She was Russian, and looked very stern and a person you shouldn't get angry with you. She had short, dark blonde hair and hard brown eyes. She was a genius and Trask was thankful to her for one thing.  
  
The devices she invented.  
  
There was one particular device Trask was rather quite fond of. She invented a certain chip, a chip that you insert inside of a mutant's skull, and then you can locate them about anywhere, as long as the mutant in question is in a three hundred yard radius. It was better than not being able to locate them at all.  
  
It would also make the mutant black out until you are ready for them to gain consciousness, unless you leave them be for about twelve hours.  
  
"Who do you plan on putting zem in, Trask?" asked Dr. Kolesnikov coldly.  
  
Trask looked at her incredulously. "I plan on putting them in all of the mutants!"  
  
"I do not know if ze chip is effective or not," she said, her voice raising slightly at each word, "I suggest you have a few mutants test it."  
  
"Fine," Trask snarled, extremely impatient.  
  
"I vill choose ze mutants. I could test it on six of zem," she said icily, straightening her lab coat a little bit.  
  
"What?!" Trask hollered. He did not want this woman in control.  
  
Her cold gray eyes pierced his dark ones. "I vill choose or you vill not have zem implanted in ze mutants at all!"  
  
Trask's face was contorted with rage. This was not going well for him.  
  
"I vill choose today. I need to be showed around and see ze mutants and zen I vill look at zere files."  
  
"Fine," Trask spat. "If you would follow me, Dr. Kolesnikov."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Vhat is zis one's name?" she asked, looking at a dark-skinned mutant male that was sitting against the wall of the cell before her.  
  
Trask flipped through the papers on his clipboard. "Roberto Da Costa," he muttered.  
  
"Vhat is his power?"  
  
"He absorbs solar-energy. When he changes his form he has super-strength," Trask said.  
  
"Him."  
  
Trask made a checkmark on one of the papers on his clipboard.  
  
"Zis one?" she pointed to another mutant. This one was female, with green eyes and long, green hair that might have been shining and beautiful before she came to that place.  
  
"Lorna Dane."  
  
"Power?"  
  
"Controls metals. She can be very powerful. There is another mutant whose powers are very similar to hers. *Magneto*. He's much more dangerous, and much more powerful."  
  
"Her." Check.  
  
They came checked more cells until they stopped at another one.  
  
"Zis one?"  
  
Trask sighed. "Theresa Rourke Cassidy. Lets out a sonic scream. Could break things with it, and I believe she can fly by using the screams."  
  
"And ze one vith her?"  
  
"Sally Blevins. Has the ability to create frictionless force fields around her and others. Boyfriend is Russell Collins, who is here also."  
  
"Both of zem." Check.  
  
They moved three cells down. "How about ze male?"  
  
"J.E. 'Ric' Richter. Can create vibrations in the earth and is immune to them."  
  
"Him." Check.  
  
They kept walking down, Dr. Kolesnikov shaking her head at each one. They stopped.  
  
"Zis one?"  
  
"Jubilation Lee. Creates so-called 'Fireworks' or globules."  
  
"No."  
  
They kept walking.  
  
"Zis one?"  
  
"Pietro Maximoff. Super-speed."  
  
"Him." Check.  
  
"There is also some evidence that he is Magneto's son."  
  
Kolesnikov raised an eyebrow. "Really? Zat is interesting."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
It was amazing how much weight you could loose in such a short span of time. Pietro had always been skinny, although he had been working out and developing muscles before they took him and Todd to prison. He was just as skinny now as his seventeen-year old self. He hated it.  
  
Jean was rather skinnier than she had been too. She always had been slim, with the perfect figure and everything. Now, they almost looked like corpses.  
  
Pietro let out a frustrated sigh and ran a shaky hand through his white hair. That too, changed. It was now longer, more like a 'shag' than anything else. Nobody knew how wavy his hair actually was except himself, Wanda, Magneto, and now Jean. He desperately wanted it cut.  
  
They heard footsteps walking down the corridor. It sounded like about six agents. Pietro shrank farther into his dark corner, not wanting to get their attention. Jean did the same.  
  
They did not pass their cell, however, they stopped right in front of it. One of the guards pressed the buttons on a security lock next to the opening. It opened.  
  
"Come on, Quickie, you're going somewhere," he ordered. Pietro scoffed. He didn't move.  
  
They stepped in. Roughly grabbing his arm, he yanked Pietro up into a standing position, nearly ripping the arm out of its socket. Pietro let out a short yelp.  
  
The arm was painfully twisted behind his back. They pushed him out the door. As he was being down the corridor, Pietro looked around at the cells frantically, trying to see if he could get a glimpse of Todd.  
  
No sign of him.  
  
Next thing Pietro knew, he was being shoved into a room. He looked around, slightly dazed; his eyes squinted against the bright light.  
  
"Hello, Quicksilver."  
  
It was Trask. Pietro let out a growl. He began to struggle slightly against the guard, but he was too weak at the moment.  
  
"Lock the door. Take off his collar."  
  
Pietro's eyes widened when he felt the hard metal being removed from his neck. He stood stock still for a while, and then he went to run at Trask full speed. He did not notice someone had a strong grip on his arm.  
  
He was surprised when he didn't go far at all and was snapped back. He let out an agonized yell when he felt his right arm ripped from his socket.  
  
Trask smirked.  
  
"Put ze collar back on, Trask." A woman with dark black glasses and a tight bun said.  
  
Trask nodded to the woman. "Sure thing, Dr. Ivanov. Are you pleased with the mutants your sister picked?"  
  
"I am pleased," she said. "Zis is our last one?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I am ready."  
  
And the last thing Pietro felt and knew was that something was being jabbed into the back of his neck.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hello! Here's chapter seven! Sorry if I get the Russian accent wrong.  
  
LiLRogue- Wolverine plushie will come in the mail in about 18 months. If not, I'm terribly sorry, it probably got lost. Thanks for your review! Please keep it up!  
  
S. Mark Gunther- This story isn't going to be filled with pairings. Sorry. Definitely not Amara/Pyro because I can NEVER see that happening. She's lava. He's fire. There MIGHT be Todd/Wanda FRIENDship IF he makes it out alive *inserts evil laugh* Thanks for your review! Please keep it up!  
  
Also thanks for reviewing- sPoOkZ13412, I Am The Anonymous Reviewer, rosie, Evilbunnys-playmate, and la cour de belles fleurs.  
  
Cookies to all who review! 


	8. A Scuffle and Some Headaches

Disclaimer- Refer to chapters prior.  
  
Author's Note- We get Roberto! Yay!  
  
Chapter Eight- A Scuffle and Some Headaches  
  
Roberto woke up to an immense throbbing in his head. He groaned in pain, and placed the heel of hands onto his eyes. The throbbing was coming mostly from the area by his right temple. Prodding it gently with his fingers, the Brazilian felt stickiness and the pricking of stitches.  
  
He sighed and tilted his head back, resting it against the stonewall to look at the ceiling. Wincing, he realized that did not help his headache at all. He rolled each of his shoulders at a time, feeling each one elicit a pop. It felt good.  
  
Roberto idly wondered where his friends were and if they were still alive. He wondered if the Professor was looking for them, and he knew that all of them were. How many mutants had been captured after he? Were any of the Brotherhood or Acolytes trapped in this God forsaken hellhole?  
  
He was alone in his cell; the other member had committed suicide a few weeks ago. How long has he been here? He knew it had been well over a year. He ached for his warm, full-size bed and warm and fluffy comforter and the firm pillows. He missed the sun, his body aching from the lack of solar energy. It would feel so good to be strong again! If only he had his powers, he would have busted out of this joint a long time ago.  
  
He hated this place. Who wouldn't? He hated Trask and the FoH for bringing him here, away from his home. He'd be damned to Hell if he died here.  
  
The mutant known as Sunspot tilted his head sharply to the side, a loud crack was heard, and he did the same again, this time tilting it to the opposite side, eliciting another loud crack. He was getting restless. Roberto Da Costa was not someone who liked to be cooped up for a long time. He needed room to run, he needed the sun.  
  
He cracked his knuckles, and then his back. It felt so good. He concentrated on that to take his mind away from the ache from his skull.  
  
The door opened and a short figure stepped in. He knew that it was Allison Crawp, a pretty and young Asian woman who worked for the FoH. He knew that she didn't believe in Trask's ways, she had told him so, and that she was only working here for something to do and because she would be a damnation to her father if she did not. There were only a small handful of others that worked here that didn't believe in all the things either. Roberto knew one to be the Irishman that he had seen around, two other females, one just barely out of her teens and the other in her late thirties, and three other males, one in his early twenties, another in his early thirties and the other in early forties. Sunspot just wondered why they were here. Agent Crawp was here to smuggle him some actual food and to talk with him. She was a very understanding person.  
  
But then there were hundreds of others scattered all over the country, hunting for mutants.  
  
Why did life have to be so unfair?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
In another cell, a few weeks later...  
  
Pietro groaned. His headaches were not as bad as they used to be, but they still hurt a lot. It was only a small, dull, throbbing, as if it was a constant reminder to Pietro of the hell he had been going to. They had taken the stitches out, and now Pietro could feel underneath his fingers the slightly raised tissue and where the skin was smoother. He had a feeling he knew of what they had put inside of him, but that didn't make him feel better about it at all.  
  
"Are you feeling okay?" He heard Jean ask from across the cell. He squinted his eyes open and saw her blue-green eyes look at him with worry. Her red hair was dirty and tangled, and she still looked as horrible as ever. Pietro did not want to know what he looked like.  
  
"I'm fine," he lied. She had no use of her powers right now so she could not tell if he was lying or not, something that made Pietro extremely grateful.  
  
Jean looked doubtful for a moment but she did not comment further. She looked down at her pale hands, twisting them and picking at the hangnails. She looked rather bored, and she should be. Being stuck in a cell for almost two years was not Pietro's idea of having a fun time.  
  
"They'll find us," Jean told him. She must have thought that he had been thinking about the others, since she said that bit. The truth was, he was thinking about pixie sticks, and how much he missed them. When he got out of there, he was going to go on a sugar-high for a very, very long time.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," he said absently, his mind still set on his candy.  
  
Then his thoughts wondered. He worried about his sister. Was she all right? Wanda could take care of herself, right?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Wanda strolled out of the store. Damn the mall! It was a jinx. How the hell did they know she was a mutant? Okay, so whenever she was there and happened to get angry, things started to float around and break and the aura that usually surrounded her fingertips didn't help at all. Big deal. What mattered was that she needed clothes, and she needed them now. And if another rich prissy blonde woman tells her that she would look good in pink lingerie again, she was seriously going to kill someone. That wouldn't be easy, since her first choice would have been Todd, but the Toad was missing. She'd settle for the rich prissy blonde woman.  
  
Wanda ran her hands through her hair. It was surprisingly soft; most people thought it would be coarse like horsehair. Nope, soft hair must be a gene. Pietro had soft hair, her father had soft hair, hell, her mother's hair was probably soft! Or maybe not. Maybe it was just soft on her father's side.  
  
'Why the hell am I thinking about the softness of my family's hair?' she thought to herself.  
  
She continued to stroll, heading towards the exit of the mall as some random people pointed and screamed at her. Why the hell were they so afraid? At least she wasn't going to kill them yet they're running around like lunatics.  
  
"There she is! That's the mutant!" a woman screeched from somewhere in the crowd. Wanda sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes.  
  
She started feeling a prickling sensation on the nape of her neck. Wanda was someone to trust her instincts, and she did just that. Jumping to her right, she just managed to escape a dart. Her eyes widened slightly at the objects, then narrowed in anger. She spun around and faced six Friends of Humanity members. Two of them looked like they were women, since they had the curves in all the right places, and the other four were obviously men, since they were tall and brawny. They had on masks.  
  
The Scarlet Witch bared her teeth at the group, careful to keep the corner of her eye on a mirror in a nearby store. It wouldn't do her any good to be attacked from behind. Spreading her fingers slightly, she created her notorious blue aura that she used for her hex bolts.  
  
"What the hell do you want with us!" she growled at them in fury.  
  
"Just take her down!" shouted the shortest male. He must have been shorter than the Scarlet Witch. She smiled grimly at them, and raised her hands above her head, forming a powerful orb of blue energy.  
  
"It's not going to be so easy," she hissed at them. Then bringing her hands forward with lighting speed, she hexed the biggest one into oblivion. He hit the tree in the middle of the store, creating a huge crack in the trunk. They heard a snap, and he fell to the floor, unconscious.  
  
The agents took action. One of the women aimed her tranquilizer gun at her and shot. The dart came straight towards the Scarlet Witch, but she waved her hand as if to shoo a fly, and the dart halted, turned around, and reared right towards the woman. Before she could dodge it, it lodged itself into her chest.  
  
The Scarlet Witch let out a feral growl, and she hexed the two more of the men. Three down, three to go.  
  
The other woman proved to be more experienced and more agile than the others. She easily sidestepped Wanda's hex bolts and aimed her weapons and the mutant.  
  
Wanda raised her right hand and sent a devastating power to the shortest man, and she hit him square in the chest with her hex, efficiently killing him. At the same time, her other arm was raised in front of her, and a powerful hex was aimed towards the other man, also hitting him square in the chest, sending him into a wall. A crack spread throughout the wall behind him.  
  
The woman was all that was left. She loaded bullets into a gun and aimed for Wanda in a place that would not kill her, mainly her legs. A loud explosion was heard, almost like a firework, and the bullet soared in the air towards the Scarlet Witch.  
  
Wanda had already thrust her right hand forward, however, and the bullet came to a dead halt, and suspended in midair. Wanda twitched her fingers slightly, and the bullet melted in its place. With a vicious snarl, Wanda raised her eyes to the woman, who froze for a moment, but promptly aimed to shoot again. The agent pulled the trigger six times, and Wanda stopped them all at once. With a sweep of her hand, they flew to the right.  
  
Taking a step towards the woman, Wanda gave her a nasty smile. She raised both of her hands slightly, and bending her fingers as if she was squeezing something, the pistil glowed a bright orange and started to melt, burning the woman's fingers as she screamed in pain. Wanda then hit her with one of her notorious hex bolts. The woman flew into the tree behind her, and then toppled onto the man that she had sent there earlier.  
  
Wanda turned around and ran as fast as she could towards the exit. She was by no means as fast as her brother, but she thought she was pretty fast when she ran on out of that mall.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Wanda stormed into the run down house of the Brotherhood, the door banging off the wall and then she promptly banged it shut again. She was breathing heavily, mostly from running and partially because of using her powers like that.  
  
Lance looked up from his magazine on the couch and gave her a questioning glance. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Looks like the 'Friends' are still hunting after mutants," she breathed heavily, leaning against the doorframe to catch her breath.  
  
Lance closed the magazine and shot up out of his seat. "What happened?"  
  
"I kicked six agents' asses," she scowled, and then muttered, "Not as powerful as I used to be my ass."  
  
Lance's Adam's apple bobbed up and down out of nervousness and because he just swallowed four times in a row. She must have heard him tell someone that she wasn't as powerful as she used to be before her memory was fixed. She probably didn't hear anything about the memory part, since she didn't kill anyone and seemed to still like her brother.  
  
"We'll warn the institute," Lance said, rushing over to the phone. He would do anything to protect Kitty, even if she can't be his anymore.  
  
Wanda nodded, "I'm going to take a shower."  
  
Lance ignored her as he listened to the telephone ring. Fred got up from his armchair and looked in the kitchen. Smoke started coming out of it.  
  
Pyro rushed out of it, wearing a pink flowery apron and oven mitts.  
  
"Do not go in theah!" he warned them, and then waved his hand Ace Ventura style, "Whoo!"  
  
He promptly ran for the front door, banging his shoulder into the doorframe on the way out. Something that sounded like, "Cawl the fire department!" came from the outside.  
  
Lance hung up the phone, after warning Nightcrawler. Immediately he dialed 911.  
  
"Yeah, um, our kitchen's on fire or something," he said to them. "Yeah. Yeah. NO! Yeah. Yeah it was him again. Yeah. Just hurry up!"  
  
He hung up the phone and sighed, turning around to look at Freddy. Freddy just shrugged and shook his head, sitting back down on his chair and continued watching the television.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Thanks to all who reviewed! Constructive critisism welcomed! Tell me what you thought!  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	9. Fear

Disclaimer- Yes. That's it. I own them ALL!!! Bwahahahaha!!!  
  
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.  
-Martin Niemoller  
  
Chapter Nine- Fear  
  
Four years. Four hellish years he had been trapped here. Four years of pain, of misery, of fear. Enough was enough.  
  
Pietro was barely conscious as the two agents dragged him, his feet scraping limply across the floor. He was too tired...too tired. His head lulled back, his mouth was wide open. He was so thirsty.  
  
They entered a room, put him on a table and strapped him down securely.  
  
Oh, God. Please. Stop. Please get me out of here. Please, please, please.  
  
But he knew that would not happen. He had lost his faith in God a long time ago. Long before he joined the Brotherhood.  
  
'Is this what Father felt like when they had him in Auschwitz?'  
  
He tried to struggle, but the straps were too tight. He tried to struggle more, this time with more panic. He would not budge. The only thing he could move was his head. His skin could feel the bite of the cool air; it was painful.  
  
Pietro turned his head to face his left; his arm was bare and skinny. His eyes widened as he saw a syringe come closer and closer to the skin.  
  
"Oh, please, please no," he moaned. The needle entered the skin. Pietro did not have the energy to scream his fear.  
  
He felt something enter his body. It was like acid, coursing through his veins. His temples throbbed, and he felt his face and neck flush. He started convulsing, except he couldn't move anywhere.  
  
Oh God. Please let it stop. Please let it stop.  
  
His eyelids suddenly felt like lead, and they began to droop down, no matter how hard he protested. He felt high, dizzy. He felt ecstasy course through his body, and he never felt so good in his life.  
  
But then a pain unimaginable hit him. His chest hurt, and he could not stop flinching, although he could not move. He felt pain shoot up his left arm. He felt the perspiration drip down from his forehead and down his face and into his hair.  
  
Oh my God, am I having a heart attack?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Magneto looked at Cerebro. He had been working with Charles for the better part of the past two years. There was more of a chance he would find his son if he worked with his one-time enemy/friend.  
  
Much as he didn't realize, he couldn't loose another child. It would ruin him; make him delusional with revenge. Very deep down he cared for his son. His only son.  
  
Another reason was that he knew, just somehow knew, that there would another thing like the Holocaust. First the Jews. Then the Communists. Then the trade unionists. Now the mutants. He knew it all along and he had tried to warn the others but no, they kept believing their dream that humans and mutants could live together in peace.  
  
"Damn it, Charles!" he cried out in frustration, banging his fist on the table, "It's been four years! Where the hell can they be?"  
  
Charles shook his head and sighed. "Patience, Magnus, patience."  
  
Magneto growled, "Patience? I'm surprised I haven't strangled anybody for this long! Damn patience!"  
  
The corners of Charles's lips quirked up slightly. "Patience is a virtue, Magnus, not a burden."  
  
"Be quiet." Magneto muttered darkly.  
  
The door opened. In walked a pretty Asian woman with long purple hair and some kind of leotard.  
  
"Good evening, Betsy," Charles greeted. She nodded.  
  
"Do you want me to take over, Professor?" she asked in a British accent.  
  
"Yes, thank you Betsy," he said, taking the Cerebro helmet off and reversing his wheelchair. "I'm rather weary from it, I'm afraid."  
  
She nodded again and pulled up a chair. Placing the helmet on, she began hitting buttons. "I will be alright alone with it, Professor. Don't worry."  
  
Charles nodded. "Come then, Magnus. I have a taste for tea, and you do too."  
  
Magneto scowled. "I knew I should have brought my helmet. But nooo, you said 'trust me'."  
  
"What? I know you have a taste for tea. You were projecting. I did not look into your mind willingly, Magnus."  
  
"I was not projecting!" Magneto hissed vehemently as the both of them exited.  
  
Betsy shook her head. Really, that Magneto thought he was an all-powerful god or something. But she knew he wasn't. He tried to show it by not sleeping or eating in front of anybody else, and the Professor saying that the man had a taste for tea rather ruined it all.  
  
"Poor chap," she murmured to herself.  
  
And she sat there for hours, working alone to find the mutants. Suddenly though, the doors opened again. It was Angel.  
  
"Hello, Angel," she said formally, not even bothering to check if it was him or not. She was a telepath, anyways.  
  
He stopped walking for a moment, and then hesitantly started walking to her again.  
  
"The Professor said you can stop for the night," he said coldly. They really didn't like each other at all.  
  
"I'll be done in an hour, Angel."  
  
"You can't do this all by yourself either. You're not so powerful as to find them all!" he snapped at her. She swiveled around in the chair, and stared at him with cool eyes.  
  
"You just don't like me because I walked in on you when you were in just your skivvies." She stated, smirking slightly. His cheeks reddened slightly then he turned sharply on his heel and left. Betsy chuckled to herself and turned back to the screen.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Betsy entered the dining room when she was done with her research. The Professor looked at her questionably but she shook her head, sitting down in her spot next to Cyclops at the table.  
  
"Please pass the rolls," she asked Gambit, who was sitting at her left.  
  
He grabbed the basket and handed it to her. "Here y' go p'tite."  
  
She gave him a flirty smile. "Thank you so much, Remy," she said, giving a longer drawl to his name. His eyes sparked and he smirked back. Rogue scowled at the Brit.  
  
"Sure t'ing, p'tite," he drawled back, his voice laced with sexuality although he was just being playful and didn't mean any of it.  
  
"Scott, could you pass me those mashed potatoes?" she asked Scott sweetly, squeezing his knee. He jumped, blushing, and did what he was told. Angel scowled at her from down the table.  
  
The Brotherhood was also there. Instead of the pseudo enemies they had been, the X-Men and the Brotherhood had sort of become reluctant allies. There were humans out there that hated them both more than they hated each other.  
  
John, however, really didn't seem to care. He piled his plate with a bunch of food, examined the steak, and then took out his Zippo lighter, hovering a flame above the steak for a few minutes. When he was done, he then made the flame transform into a little dog, then had it rip up the green lettuce, not burning it because it was wet.  
  
"Doy, doy, lettuce!" he murmured to himself, only concentrating on the flame and not the others around him. Wanda gave him an annoyed look from across the table and extinguished it with her own powers. John's head snapped up.  
  
"Wot was that foah?" he asked.  
  
"You're not going to set another fire, Pyro!" she hissed at him. John looked a bit sheepish.  
  
"I could awlways fix it..." he trailed off.  
  
"That's not what you did the last time you set a fire in the kitchen," she retorted, "You ran around like a lunatic screaming, 'Call the fire department, call the fire department!'"  
  
"I did nawt!" he said in defense.  
  
"You did it the last *twelve* times!" she said incredulously, not believing that he would deny such a thing. "You were too afraid to extinguish it by yourself!"  
  
John scowled and slumped in his seat, refusing to look at anybody else.  
  
"See, I told you so," Wanda said as she ate a piece of her steak.  
  
"Brat."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"That's what I thought."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Conner McCormick looked around. The corridors were dark, and one could hardly see. He stepped up next to the cell, in front of the solid wall of the bars.  
  
"Psst," he hissed. The breathing seemed to stop for only a moment. "Psst, Toad."  
  
There was a quiet scuffling, and a figure appeared cautiously at the bars. "Who's there?"  
  
"It's me," Conner whispered. "I'm going to take you to a room. I need to tell you something."  
  
"Alright," the Toad whispered back, although a bit suspiciously. Conner, as silently as he could, unlocked the door and Toad stepped out, looking around him.  
  
"Nobody's 'ere. At least, not around 'ere. They're probably sleeping, but I c'n avoid cameras." He hissed in Toad's ear, and her grabbed Toad by the arms. Toad gave him a withering glare.  
  
"So as not ta look suspicious. Ye got it? Jus' follow along." The Toad had no choice but to obey. Conner locked the cell back up.  
  
Silently, they stealthily walked down the corridor, Conner looking around dark corners at first before turning. Finally he stopped at a door, looked around cautiously, then rapped on it quietly four times then twisted the knob, letting himself in.  
  
There were seven other agents inside. Toad instantly froze, gaping at McCormick. Conner gave him a reassuring smile and pointed to a chair.  
  
"It's alright. Sit." He ordered. Toad reluctantly did so.  
  
"Toad, these are the other agents that don't believe Trask's cause." He told him.  
  
"Agent Allison Crawp, Agent Dan Hooper, Agent Henry Gild, Agent Marie Cosentino, Agent Anthony Thompson, and Agent Frita Gutierrez." Conner pointed to each one.  
  
"Yeah?" Toad asked. "What's the deal?"  
  
"You want to get out of here?" Gutierrez asked coldly.  
  
Toad froze and looked at her. Slowly, he nodded.  
  
"Listen and listen carefully," she said in a low voice. He looked at her, preparing himself to listen like he never listened in his life.  
  
"Thursday night, that is when Trask and many others will not be here. McCormick will be by your cell, putting you back in. You will fight him. Show some sign of a struggle as not to look suspicious. Make sure you knock him unconscious. Got it?" Gutierrez told him. Toad nodded hastily.  
  
"You will take the keys from him. Unlock as many cells as you can. Pietro Maximoff is down further from you on the ground floor. You will find him with a mutant known as Jean Grey," Toad's eyes widened in shock, "Tell the other mutants to just knock as many agents as they can if they run into any. Not to kill them unless absolutely necessary. Then, on the third floor, is Stryker's office. He is barely here. He will have the master key to the collars. It is small and a bronze color, with an orange sticker on it. Take it and use it. You got this?" Toad nodded once again.  
  
"We would have you do this tomorrow on Tuesday, but Thursday seemed better," Allison Crawp cut in. "But we thought you would want to escape with your friend. Unfortunately, he is in no condition to do anything like this at the moment."  
  
"What? What happened to him?" Toad asked in a panicked voice.  
  
"Trask injected him with something. I don't know what, but I suppose it was meant to do something with his heart, since that's what it did. Gave him a heart attack."  
  
"What!" Toad cried, springing from his seat. Conner jumped to his side and forced him back into the seat.  
  
"Shut the fuck up!" he hissed, earning a disapproving glare from Crawp, "Ye dinnae have ta do that!"  
  
"But what if he dies!" Toad wailed quietly.  
  
"El vivirá,*" Gutierrez muttered.  
  
Toad looked around desperately. They were all giving him grim looks. Finally, he settled on asking a question.  
  
"Why me? Why do you want me to do all this?" he asked shakily.  
  
"You seem to have the potential to be a leader," Agent Marie Cosentino said.  
  
"But-but," Toad stammered incredulously, "Pietro and Lance were always the leaders! And Jean Grey is a leader for her team! I'm just a follower. I'm not even that smart!"  
  
Marie gave him a tiny smile, "Your wrong. Have you ever bothered to check your grade? Besides the high absentee and the detentions, you have done well on almost every assignment, especially in technology."  
  
"Okay, okay. I'll do it. But this better work."  
  
"It has to. Just try your best."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hey! How bout that chapter? Toad's going to get his chance to shine! When? I don't know. Well, actually I do, but you don't. Read and review! They keep me alive an' kickin'!  
  
Thanks for reviewing- sPoOkZ13412, I Am The Anonymous Reviewer, crazyspaceystracey, la cour de belles fleurs, Wind Rider 2000, Pauline L., rosie, Krys Xanthina, zephyr, and Officially *Obsessed* with Pyro. Hope you keep reading this! R&R!!! 


	10. Escape

Disclaimer- "As a joke when I was little, my uncle painted 'male' on our mailbox. When I was older, I noticed and I said, 'Now that ain't right. Ain't the 'M' 'spose to be capitalized?"  
  
Author's Note- Swearing in here folks. Not too much though.  
  
Chapter Ten- Escape  
  
Toad waited by the cell door anxiously. Any minute now, McCormick would come.  
  
The footsteps came, and the familiar Irishman stopped in front of his cell, his face emotionless.  
  
"Agents want ta see ye, fucker," he spat. There was no need to look suspicious, so he had to act like his usual self.  
  
Todd gave a mock salute and waited as he opened the cell door, grabbed him roughly by the arm, and yanked him out of the cell. In a split second, Todd stomped on his foot, and he heard a crack, and then hit the man on the side of the head. Bending down, he searched the agent's pockets for the keys, and he found them and took them. Beckoning towards the mutants in his cell to follow, he went on.  
  
He hadn't meant to break McCormick's foot; it was just that he had enhanced leg muscles for jumping great distances. It was one of the mutations Todd couldn't control.  
  
Todd walked as stealthily as he could down the gloomy corridor, telling his cellmates to knock out any agent they see, but not kill them. They nodded, alert for any noises. Todd unlocked any cell they happen to pass, and mutants would hesitantly walk out of them, as if it were a trap.  
  
"Toad?"  
  
Toad turned around to face a Chinese-American woman about twenty.  
  
"Jubilee?" he asked in amazement. She nodded, and then did something the Toad did not expect at all. She ran up to him and hugged him, but then she pulled back quickly due to the smell and the sliminess.  
  
Another cell they stopped at, and Todd fit the key into the lock, pulling the door open. A figure barreled himself at Toad, knocking him flat on his back, and grabbed him by the collar of his tattered and gray garb.  
  
"Roberto!" Jubilee cried, racing forward and attempted to pull Sunspot off of Toad. Roberto had changed too, like the rest of them. His hair was shaggier than ever, he was paler than ever, even with his dark bronze skin, and he was gaunter than ever. What was also new about his features was the scar on his temple.  
  
Roberto, realizing that it was not a guard, quickly got off of Toad, then bent down offering him a hand. Todd grabbed the hand, and felt himself be yanked forcefully up. Apparently, Roberto was still strong without his powers.  
  
Toad looked frantically around, and then turned to the two New Recruits. "Guys, you take the keys, free the mutants. I need to get something from Stryker's office." He deposited the ring of keys in Jubilee's hand, and hopped off in the direction to where the FoH agents told him where the office was, which held the key to the inhibitor collars.  
  
He ran up flights of stairs, until finally he saw a door that said 'Third Floor', he entered there, and started looking around. A wooden door said 'Stryker'. He entered there. Little did he know that the cameras were following him.  
  
Todd began searching the desk frantically, until finally, he found a little bronze key with an orange sticker on it. Twisting the collar around on his neck so the keyhole faced the front, he jammed the key into the lock and turned. A click was heard, and Todd pulled. It opened up, and he dropped it onto the floor. He was free. He was free at last.  
  
Pocketing the key, he hopped out. Four guards were waiting for him outside of the door, laser guns aimed at his head. Toad smirked, and grabbed all of the guns with his tongue, surprising the guards. He flung the guns behind him, and then jumped across the hall, moving his body horizontally so his feet would hit the wall at the last moment. His feet touched the wall, and then he propelled himself backwards and barreled himself into two of the guards. They gave surprised yells as they fell onto the floor. With a kick to their heads, the Toad knocked them out cold.  
  
With ease, his tongue flicked out of his mouth and grabbed another guard by the throat, lifting him off the ground, and then threw him into the wall. He slid down, in a daze. The last of the four guards pulled out a knife, and Toad grabbed one of the laser guns with his tongue, and aimed it at him.  
  
"What exactly does this thing do?" he asked with an evil smile, and shot the man in the shoulder. The man fell back with a cry of agony, and Todd advanced on him, the gun now aiming for the man's head.  
  
"Apparently, it burns a hole right through your body," he stated, "Now, do you want a hole through your head?"  
  
The man shook his head vehemently, whimpering from the pain.  
  
Toad cocked his head to the side. "No, I didn't think so. Now, I want you to lock yourself up in that office, you hear?" The man nodded vigorously, and scrambled up to his feet, and ran into Stryker's office, slamming the door shut behind him.  
  
"Idiot," Todd murmured, then picked up the other three guns and left to aid with the other mutant prisoners.  
  
And down the stairs he went, following the noise of the commotion, where presumably mutants and agents were having a brawl.  
  
Mutants and agents alike were lying unconscious on the floor, some mutants seriously injured.  
  
Toad, using his powers, started slamming agents into the wall with his tongue, jumping out of the way from their lasers. On the ceiling, he jumped on to unsuspecting agents, knocking them unconscious with a kick and a punch to the head.  
  
"Toad, behind you!" Jubilee gave a warning cry, and Toad whirled around, dodging a vicious looking hunting knife, escaping with a gash on his left arm. He gave a hiss of pain, and kicked the man in the ribs, eliciting a few loud cracks.  
  
A petite female walked calmly up to him. Todd recognized her, but barely. Her hair was long and tangled, not like the brown silk it used to be. Her face was pale for her, not like the rich, dark tan it used to be. She looked anything but a princess. She held out her hand, silently asking for something, and Todd knew what it was.  
  
"Here ya go, Amara," he whispered, dropping the key into her hands. Quickly, she maneuvered the collar so the lock would be facing the front, and with a click, it was open, and the inhibitor collar fell with a clatter to the floor. She handed the key back to him. Raising her hands high above her head, she created a large fireball, and then her whole entire body changed form, from her head to her toes, and now resembled a human figure of lava.  
  
She turned to the remaining members of the FoH, her arms still raised above her head. She regarded them, and then said icily, "You will go, or I'll burn you to a crisp."  
  
Some of them dropped their weapons and fled, but the majority of them stayed, aiming their laser guns, ready to fire if any of them took an advancing step towards them.  
  
Todd suddenly realized that his hand was not clamping tightly onto the key, and he looked for it everywhere, his eyes scanning the room for a small bronze object with orange. He turned to his right, and slightly behind him was a very, very familiar man, standing there, his hands working frantically to put the key into the keyhole of the collar behind his head. The man was just as skinny as he had been at seventeen now, which was definitely not a good sign.  
  
The man's eyes found his, what used to be a startling blue, now darker than the night sky. He did not give Toad a smile or a nod, but just stared at him as he silently worked the key into the collar. It clicked, and he removed it, letting it fall from his numb fingers and clattering onto the floor. He reached his hand out and grabbed Toad's, as if to hold it, but then just as quickly slipped it away. Todd's hand clamped on something small.  
  
"Hang on to that, Toad," he whispered. And he was gone with his all-too- familiar blur 'signature'. Todd slowly unfurled his fingers and saw the key in the palm of his hand. He pocketed it, and then readied himself in a defensive crouch.  
  
Pietro was back right next to him now, guns in hand. He dropped seven of them, the eighth he held tightly. He aimed for the center one, an agent by the name of Dyke, one of the most feared and brutal one of all. Pietro had been a victim to his brutality and mistreatment.  
  
"Say good-bye, fucker," Pietro said harshly, and before Todd could stop him, his index finger pulled the trigger, and a red beam spilled from the weapon, hitting the man square in the chest. He held it there for a while, and nobody did anything but stare in shock. Then finally, did Pietro stop, and drop the gun. The man had a huge, gaping hole in his chest, smoke coming from it, the smell of burnt flesh was putrid and all could taste the bile rising in their throats. Dyke collapsed in a heap. The other agents ran.  
  
Quickly, with inhumane speed, Pietro took the key from Toad again and began removing all of the inhibitor collars from the mutant's throats. He stuffed the key into Todd's hands again, not trusting himself not to loose it.  
  
"We gotta run!" Todd said, breaking away from his moment of shock. He began to lead the way.  
  
And they ran, Pietro of course yards ahead, but slow enough to be near enough to the crowd.  
  
Alarms rang through the entire prison. Red lights flashed in the hallways.  
  
Guns were heard from behind them, and a cry was heard as Sheila Dunphrey went down.  
  
Rusty, a redhead who could shoot fire from his hands, and long-time boyfriend of Sally Blevins turned to face the guards, and flame shot out and set three men alight with fire. Before he could attack the other seven however, a shot rang out, and blood squirted out from his throat. He gurgled a bit, falling to his knees and the vibrant red color leaked out of his mouth and from his hands, which were clutching his neck, trying to staunch the bleeding. Sally screamed and fell down to her knees beside him, only to be shot in the head.  
  
The other mutants kept running.  
  
And then they made it outside, in a large fenced in area with barrels and boxes piled everywhere. Many began to cry their joy, but they cried too early.  
  
Above them, a large, towering shadow skewered them, and the all gasped and backed away in fear.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sorry for the long update! I'll try to never let that happen again!  
  
THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! I LOVE YOU GUYS!  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	11. Sentinels

Disclaimer- Trust me, if I owned anything Marvel related, I wouldn't be writing fanficiton.  
  
~Telepathy~  
  
'Thought'  
  
"Speech"  
  
Chapter Eleven- Sentinels  
  
Toad and Quicksilver looked skywards, their necks craning at the giant robotic-mutant hunters that surrounded them. Their pale faces were shadowed, and a few mutants felt panic at the huge tower-like robots that loomed over them.  
  
Some took a step back and turned around to run away, only to have their path blocked by more sentinels. There was no escape; they would have to fight their way out of the tight circle the sentinels had them in.  
  
"Aw shit," someone muttered behind them, and Toad turned around and saw a young man about five feet eleven inches, standing a few yards behind him to his right. His light brown hair was incredibly shaggy and dirty, and dried blood was caked to the side of his face, mixing in with his hair. His brown eyes, just like all of them, looked haunted.  
  
Pietro inhaled sharply through his teeth, his right hand rubbing gently on the left side of his chest, as if something pained him there. Toad narrowed his eyes and looked back at the deadly robots before him. His powers were practically useless against these things.  
  
"Well, what are ya waitin' for?" The young man snapped, spreading his feet shoulder length apart and leveling his hands with one of the sentinel's feet, "Let's fight 'em!"  
  
Something clear shot out of his hand, and Toad saw the sentinel's feet freeze with ice, and as the man's arms kept raising, so did the ice, and he only stopped until the robot was fully incased in it.  
  
"Phew," he sighed, rubbing his forearm against his forehead. "Haven't done that in a long time now, have I?"  
  
Jubilee faced him, tears shrouded in her eyes. He flashed a ghost of a grin at her.  
  
"Come on, Jubes, show these killer robots those wild firecrackers you got!"  
  
Then, what seemed like endless minutes -although in reality it was seconds- the sentinels fired.  
  
"Watch it!" Jean shouted, creating a shield around Paige Guthrie. Samuel's sister gave her a small smile of gratitude back at her. A large scorch mark appeared a few feet away from the shape-shifting mutant.  
  
The redhead levitated her self up in the air, just as Roberto changed into his solar form. He gave a laugh of excitement.  
  
"Now this is what I'm talking about!" he shouted in glee, running towards one of the red robots that were surrounding and attacking them. He dodged a laser just in time.  
  
"Roberto! Tuck and roll!" Jean called to him, and Roberto obliged. He jumped in the air, wrapped his arms around his knees, and did some sort of flip in the air as Jean directed him in the center of the sentinel. He landed on his feet on the opposite side of the robot. He pumped a fist in the air for his small victory.  
  
Meanwhile, Toad was hopping himself up the back of a sentinel. When he reached the place between where the shoulder blades should have been if it where a human, he paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.  
  
"Now, if I just do this," he reached for the vulnerable circuits that were outside of its protective armor, "what would happen?"  
  
He gave a firm yank, and there were some crackles of electricity. The sentinel functioned jerkily, but it was still up and bent on destroying the humans with an extra gene. Toad hopped off of its back, landing in a graceful crouch on the earth.  
  
Jubilee shot what her friends had dubbed 'fireworks' at the humongous robot in front of her. She aimed for it square in the chest, giving it her full power. It tried to advance on her, but her force kept pushing it back. The corner of her mouth twitched up slightly.  
  
Amara was shooting her lava at another sentinel. It did not seem to do anything drastic, so Magma changed her plan. Crouching low to the ground, she placed her palms on the earth, forcing her power into it. Cracks formed in the dry soil, and lava burst upwards from directly under the sentinel. Roberto gave a running leap into the center, taking out a main part. Amara gave him a sharp nod.  
  
Quicksilver ran in zigzag circles around his sentinel, quickly forming a twister around it. It did little harm to it, however. In fact, it seemed like nothing was happening to it at all. Pietro stopped for a brief moment, observing his surroundings. A few mutants were incased in hardened green goop, while others were fighting the gigantic robots off.  
  
"Look out!" a warning came to him, but too late. He had stood a moment too long, and the sentinel took advantage, shooting for him. He went to dodge it, but it still hit him on his side. Letting out a startling yelp of pain, Pietro ran out of the way, not noticing that he ran a quarter of a mile away in about a millionth of a second. His hands clutched at his side, some blood escaping from between his fingers. He slowly took them away to examine his wound, and his face paled at the blood that matted his side.  
  
Deciding he needed some rest, Pietro laid down by some of the dusty rubble, since it was the closest thing near him at the time. He grew light headed, and he started shivering slightly. He was really tired...  
  
Closing his eyes from drowsiness, Pietro drifted into unconsciousness.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
~X-Men! Change into your uniforms and aboard the Blackbird and Velocity. We found our mutants~  
  
All of the X-Men, new and old quickly obeyed their leader. The Professor sent out another message.  
  
~Nightcrawler, go to the Brotherhood Boarding House and port them onto the Blackbird~  
  
Kurt, just about to teleport into the Velocity, instead teleported to the Brotherhood.  
  
Charles Xavier was excited. After four years, they were finally found. Cerebro was having a field day, picking up many different variations of powers somewhere by the border of Massachusetts.  
  
Xavier made his way to the Blackbird, wheeling his chair up the ramp.  
  
"Professor X, what happened?" Scott asked him frantically, turning around to face him from the pilot's seat. Charles gave him a small smile.  
  
"Cyclops, we found Jean."  
  
Scott's lower lip quivered slightly, and Charles sensed disbelief, surprise, and utmost happiness coming from his oldest student.  
  
"We gon' fight anyt'ing?" Gambit asked from his seat next to Rogue, idly shuffling cards.  
  
"We won't know unless we get there," Charles informed him, and then he told Cyclops the location of where the mutants were.  
  
BAMF!  
  
The smell of brimstone filled the jet, and Rogue waved her hand in front of her face to rid the smell. Kurt gave her a shy smile.  
  
"What the HELL is going on?" Avalanche snarled at them, his uniform on. It was much like his old one, except there were no sleeves, and he didn't have that ridiculous thing covering his head that resembled some sort of fruit bowl; instead, he wore a special kind of goggles much like the one Pyro wore.  
  
"We found them. Their using their powers profusely, and I do not take that as a good sign. Cyclops, let's get going." Charles said.  
  
"I- wait- what- what?" Lance asked, confused. Then the jet jolted, a result from Scott taking a fast take off, and Lance quickly covered his mouth with his hand.  
  
"I hate flying," he muttered, taking an empty seat next to Wanda. She scooted away from him slightly, wary that he might vomit on her.  
  
"My brother? Did you find my brother's mutant signature?" she asked eagerly, but there seemed to be a threatening note in her voice, as if she wouldn't think twice about hexing Professor Xavier if Cerebro hadn't picked up her twin's mutant powers.  
  
"Cerebro picked them up, Wanda," he reassured her gently. Wanda relaxed in her seat.  
  
Lance suddenly bolted out of his seat, one hand clutching his gut and the other covering his mouth, and went out to the back of the jet. He was heard retching.  
  
"Dis gon' be excitin'," Gambit muttered sarcastically. He picked out a random card and handed it to Rogue with a smile. She turned it over and rolled her eyes. It was the Queen of Hearts.  
  
"Damn Cajun, ya always buggin' me. Won' ya jus' leave meh alone?" she told him, crossing her arms and turning her head away from him. He just gave her a devious smirk behind her back.  
  
"Comrades, let us not bicker," Colossus said from his seat next to Shadow Cat. His English had been improving greatly, and he rolled his eyes at his teammates behavior.  
  
"Oh, leave out of it, Petey," Rogue warned him playfully. Kitty grinned and intertwined small fingers with his large ones and gave his hand an affectionate squeeze.  
  
Lance came back into the hangar, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. He took one look at Kitty and Piotr's hands, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. He sat back down at his seat, his face darkened.  
  
They landed in an open space, just five minutes walking time from where the mutants were. Explosions could be heard at a short distance away, and a small building was smoking. Three gigantic red sentinels could be seen flying around from the general area the explosions came from. A figure was floating in the air, forming telekinetic bubbles to protect it from the shots aimed at the person.  
  
"Jean," Scott muttered to himself, then took off at a dead run towards the area. The rest followed.  
  
"Alright! Get to burn somethin' big this time!" St. John cackled, readying his flamethrowers.  
  
They ran into full view of the battle. Some were not prepared for what they saw, especially Sam. He was looking around for his sister.  
  
"Cannonball, snap out of it! We gotta attack those things!" Wolverine warned him. He spoke into his headset, "Yeah, Chuck. We got a problem. Sentinels."  
  
Cannonball immediately rocketed in the air, and right through a sentinel that a green haired woman was currently trying to fight. She smiled her thanks at him and went on to the next sentinel.  
  
Avalanche growled; his hands spread out in front of him, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he grunted, stomping his foot, and digging the toe of his combat boot into the ground with a twist. Immediately, tremors shook the earth.  
  
Wolverine took a running leap at the back of the sentinel Lance was trying to take down, and with his adamantium claws, he tore the circuits to shreds. Lance scowled at him but said nothing.  
  
Pyro was currently battling another sentinel that had just arrived. He was entertaining himself by forming his fire into various shapes, attacking the giant robot that was determined to terminate him. John just cackled, dodged a blast by somersaulting to the side, and cackled again.  
  
Toad got whacked backwards by a sentinel sweeping its arm at him, and he flew backwards and hit a brick wall that had gotten in his way hard. His head bounced on it twice, and his lid down, blood trickling from the back of his head and out of his nose. He was knocked into oblivion.  
  
Cyclops shot his optic blasts at full force, his brother Alex doing the same. Every few seconds however, Scott could not help but glance at Jean, to see if she was really there. He noticed that fire seemed to alight in her eyes.  
  
Multiple Man and Boom Boom were once a team again. Much like they did during their fight against the Professor when he was one of Apocalypse's Horsemen, they were fighting like that again. Jamie punched himself repeatedly in the hand, and while clones popped out, Tabitha handed them her own homemade cherry bombs. She socked Jamie in the arm for good measure. He rubbed the area, glaring at her.  
  
"Unnecessary," he grumbled at her. She threw her head back and laughed, going back to her job; passing out cherry bombs to Jamie clones.  
  
"Hey, Battery," she called out to Berzerker, "Come over here and help us!"  
  
Ray just went back to work on the sentinel he was attempting to take down with Storm. He couldn't just abandon it.  
  
"Grab as many mutants as you can and return to the mansion!" Logan bellowed over the chaos. The Blob, who had just finished ripping the arm off of a sentinel, with surprising stealth, quickly moved over to where Toad lay and scooped him up, heading towards the Blackbird.  
  
Everybody was running towards where the two X-transportation jets and copters were. Wanda stopped abruptly.  
  
"Where is he?" she snarled, searching around for the familiar silver haired mutant that was her twin.  
  
"Wanda, let's go!" Cyclops said, grabbing hold of her arm and attempting to drag her away. She ripped her arm from his grip.  
  
"Where. Is. He?" She asked again, her voice filled with venom.  
  
"He's probably already at the Velocity or something, you know how fast he is," Cyclops tried to reassure her, tugging at her arm again.  
  
"WHERE IS HE?!" She screamed in fury, her hands surrounded by the blue aura of her powers; Cyclops immediately let go and backed away a few feet. The power suddenly surrounded her, crackling with energy, and turned a scarlet color. Wanda's eyes glowed with her powers.  
  
"ARRGGHHHH!" She howled with rage, aiming her hex-bolts at the robots that had chosen to follow them. Buildings were shaking, cracks in the concrete formed, trees set on fire. A storage warehouse for the camps blew up. The sentinel she had attacked was completely destroyed.  
  
Suddenly, she stopped, collapsed to her knees and clutched her head. She groaned, and passed out.  
  
Cyclops quickly picked her up, and ran towards the others. He entered the Blackbird, where the Professor was.  
  
"Scarlet Witch just fainted sir, don't know what happened," he informed the world's most powerful telepath.  
  
"I know, Scott. I had to calm her down. She was very angry," Charles informed him.  
  
"Gee, you think?" Scott muttered sarcastically to himself, and Charles smiled slightly in spite of himself.  
  
"Shadow Cat, Rogue, I want you to go in the back and treat our new guests," Charles told the two young women. They nodded, unbuckling their belts, and went through the automatic door.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Crystalia Amaquelin muffled her cough as she passed through the dusty area where the sentinels were just attacking the mutants. She was being discreet, since it was not a good idea to go walking up to the FoH with her yellow spandex uniform on. They might mistake her for a mutant.  
  
She coughed quietly again, searching through the rubble. She had spotted the agents taking in mutants incased in a green substance, but she kept her distance. Maybe some had escaped...  
  
And then she spotted something. A thin figure in a gray uniform lay, his hands resting at his side, where it was alarmingly red.  
  
"Agon's blood," she whispered to herself, hurrying over to the figure. He was a man, with shaggy and dirty silver-white hair. He looked thin for his age, but that wasn't the thing that made Crystalia worried. Carefully, she moved his hands and examined the wound given to him.  
  
"You need help, good sir," she whispered, running her gloved fingers gently along the wound. It seemed to have stopped bleeding badly. But still, a small amount of blood flowed from it.  
  
"I will be right back, you have my word. Help will come to you." She stood up from her crouch, and quickly she ran to the nearest place she could think of that would help them.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Yay! I actually wasn't suppose to update this story until I posted five more chapters of In Dreams and The Downside of Falling in Love, but this chapter was itching to be written. And five of the eight pages I wrote last night at eleven o'clock, and I stopped at quarter after one. The words just flowed for this one, and I'm quite pleased with the outcome. So, if you have any constructive criticism for this, or even a flame, just review.  
  
Thanks to all who reviewed! Stay tuned for the next chapter!  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	12. Reunions

Disclaimer- "Potato, pototo."  
  
Author's Note- There are swears in this chapter. I was considering changing this to R just because of that, but decided that if I just warned you about them, it would be okay. The next installment of this trilogy (yes it will be a trilogy) will be R and it's highly probable that the third part will be too.  
  
Chapter Twelve- Reunions  
  
Wanda woke up in an unfamiliar room. It took her awhile to register where she was, and by judging from the pictures of Piotr and Kitty together, and the little yellow dragon on the bed, she guessed she was in Kitty's room.  
  
She slowly sat up, shaking her head slightly to try to get rid of her grogginess. Something had happened...She remembered fighting the sentinels, and then she remembered being angry. Very angry.  
  
"XAVIER!" She screamed, bolting out of Kitty Pryde's bed after realizing what he had done.  
  
She looked livid, racing out of Kitty's room, the door automatically slamming shut behind her. Inhaling and exhaling air through her teeth sharply, Wanda stormed through the hallway and down the flight of stairs, objects floating around behind her, some light bulbs in the lamps shattering.  
  
"Wanda, what are you-" Scott, fearless leader of the X-Men, stopped talking abruptly from the look on Wanda's face. She snarled at him, thrusting her hand forward towards him, and he flew back over the sofa and in to Alex. Both brothers toppled to the floor in a heap.  
  
She continued on her search for the professor. Somehow, she had found herself in front of the infirmary doors. The doors melted before her and she found Hank McCoy bustling around in a lab coat, checking on the patients. She stalked right up to him.  
  
"Where's Xavier?" she hissed. Beast looked at her in surprise, and was about to answer when the Professor wheeled in.  
  
"I'm right here Wanda," he said calmly.  
  
"You," she spat, "You. How dare you? How DARE you?!"  
  
"Wanda, look at it from my point of view. You were dangerous and so engrossed in your anger you could have easily killed someone. Would you have wanted that?"  
  
"It doesn't matter," she muttered darkly, casting a look around the room. She took a deep breath and then released it. "Where's Pietro? Is he okay?"  
  
The Professor's eyes never left her face. Beast took a step closer to her, in case she needed to be contained. His blue eyes behind his glasses shifted nervously between Charles and Magneto's second, and very dangerous daughter.  
  
"Wanda, I had to calm you down. What if Pietro had been in the area? You could have injured him," the Professor spoke softly, wheeling a little bit closer. The patient on the bed looked at them warily.  
  
Wanda faltered, but instantly her face-hardened, "What do you mean 'if he had been'?"  
  
"Pietro is not here, Wanda. We could not find him when we came back to search."  
  
"What?" Wanda asked incredulously. Anger started to boil inside of her. "What do you mean? You told me Cerebro picked up his powers!"  
  
"They did, Wand-"  
  
"You LIED to me!" she bellowed, hot angry tears filling her eyes. Now a green aura surrounded her fingertips. Charles looked at them with mild interest.  
  
"No I didn't." Charles said softly.  
  
"You-you-" she stopped when she saw that the Professor's expression went quite blank. "Pay attention!"  
  
He shook his head slightly and sighed, turning towards the door expectantly.  
  
"I'm talking to you, Xavier," She growled, the green aura growing. Charles just shook his head slightly, wheeling a bit closer to the door. The patient on the bed now looked mildly interested.  
  
The door flung open, and there stood a very upset and angry looking Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. He didn't even bother walking in, he just levitated himself in front of the telepath.  
  
"Magnus," Charles greeted, but there was a note of wariness in his voice.  
  
"F-Father?" Wanda asked in slight confusion, the glow around her fingertips shrinking and starting to turn blue.  
  
"When were you going to tell me, Charles?" Magneto snarled, raising his hand to pull the wheelchair closer to him. "How long were you going to leave me in the dark? Until I saw it on the *news*?"  
  
"On the news? Magnus, I was going to tell you," Charles stated, staring at Magneto's glowing eyes.  
  
"Well then, tell me! What happened Charles and how come you did not inform me *at once*?" Magneto bellowed.  
  
Charles sighed, backing away on his wheelchair slightly, turning to the side. He rubbed his temples as if he had just had an exhausting day, and he began to tell Magneto his story.  
  
"Quite a few hours ago, Cerebro started picking up multiple powers; including Pietro Maximoff's, Jean Grey's, and Todd Tolensky's. My X-Men left at once, bringing the Brotherhood with them. They fought sentinels, and rescued some of the mutants that have been taken captive. The Toad was injured, but there was no sign of Quicksilver. We went back to look, and I even did a mental scan, but there was no trace of him."  
  
Magneto's glowing eyes narrowed from the darkness of his helmet.  
  
"Father!" Wanda said suddenly, stepping right up to him. "Xavier, he used his telepathy on me!"  
  
"What?" Magneto snapped, turning his face away from his daughter and whirling his head to face his oldest friend and enemy.  
  
Charles sighed again, kneading his forehead with his fingertips. "She was out of control, Magnus. If I did not stop her, she would have hurt others. She reduced a sentinel to a pile of scrap metal, trees were setting on fire, and a warehouse blew up. She would have hurt herself too, if I had not stopped her."  
  
Charles looked up and at Wanda, "Does the color of your mutation change a lot, Wanda?"  
  
"Wh-what do you mean?" Wanda asked, taken aback by the question.  
  
"Back when you discovered that you had not seen your brother, the glow you get around your hands turned a scarlet. That had been the most destructive I've seen you. Just now, your powers were green, and then they turned back to your usual blue. Had this happened before?"  
  
"I-" Wanda began, but her father interrupted.  
  
"We can discuss this later," he said irritably, "But right now, we need to search for my son."  
  
"Alright," Charles said, leaving the infirmary and Wanda standing in the same spot, looking confused.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Jean ran her fingertips along the cool counter in the kitchen. Hank had just done a thorough check-up on her, and was now doing so to the other guests. She had wanted to wander around the mansion, to a place so familiar to her, yet it was so different.  
  
New mutants had been added to the X-Men, and a few New Recruits had graduated up to the team. Jean wondered what her place now was on the team.  
  
"Hey Jean," someone said behind her, and Jean inclined her head slightly towards the person.  
  
"Hello Rogue," she said quietly, her eyes staring unseeingly at one spot on the countertop.  
  
She heard the untouchable mutant walk up behind her, and then did Jean turn around. Rogue had changed startlingly over the years. Her eyes were brighter, her skin was darker, and she didn't wear clothes that cover almost every section of her body anymore. Grown up, Rogue was indeed a beautiful young woman. Awkwardly, the Southern belle wrapped her arms around the redhead. Jean, startled, embraced her back.  
  
"We've missed ya here," Rogue whispered, her arms tightening around Jean. Tears rolled down Jean's face, and she sniffled.  
  
"I've missed you all so much. I don't know how I lasted there this long," she choked.  
  
"Neither do we. But Ah got an inklin' that ya would have made it no matter what. Yer a strong gal."  
  
Jean nodded, backing away from the girl she had always fought with in high school.  
  
"Scott missed ya." It was so quietly uttered, that Jean almost didn't hear it. But it settled in, and Jean felt the pit of her stomach drop.  
  
"He's out in the gazebo, jus' in case ya wanted ta know."  
  
Jean nodded, heading towards the doorway exiting the kitchen. She stopped at the doorway however, and turned back saying, "Thanks, Rogue."  
  
"No problem, sugah."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
She took a sharp intake of breath when she caught sight of him. His hair was shorter than it had been, but he seemed to still have the same ruby glasses that let him have some control of his powers.  
  
"Scott?" she called out hesitantly, and he turned, his expression startled.  
  
"J-Jean?" he stuttered, taking an involuntary step forward. Jean could feel the awkwardness coming from him, because she felt it towards him too. Four years was a long time to be separated from the one you loved.  
  
Only foot separated them both now, and they stared at each other for a while until the silence became unbearable.  
  
"I've missed you," Scott said quietly, slowly wrapping his arms around her in an awkward hug. Jean melted into his embrace, glad to be in his arms again.  
  
"Me too," she muttered, burying her head in his shoulder.  
  
"I've missed you so much," Scott repeated over and over, his voice cracking. He buried his face in her hair, and the first time since he had found out that she might possibly be dead, he cried. Jean cried too, she had missed him so much.  
  
They stood there, in the Xavier gazebo, content to stay in each other's embrace for as long as possible.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Samuel Guthrie, oldest child of Zebulon and Lucinda Guthrie, was ecstatic. Immediately when they returned to the mansion, the native of Kentucky called home.  
  
"Come on! Come on! Pick up!" he snapped at the phone.  
  
"Howdy," a female voice said.  
  
"Joelle? Joelle! Paige, they-they found her! Put Ma on the phone!"  
  
"What? Sam is that you?" she said through the other end.  
  
"Course it's me, stupid! Put Ma on the phone!" he snapped.  
  
"Wait, did you say they found Paige?" she sounded excited.  
  
"Yeah, now put Ma on the phone!"  
  
"Wait a minute." He could hear her should to other people throughout the house.  
  
"Jeb! They found Paige! Sam's on the phone! How should Ah know? Hey Josh! They found Paige, they found Paige! Don't you rip that phone outta mah hands, Zachariah Guthrie!"  
  
"Sam? Sam? Where's Paige! Lemme talk ta her!" Zachariah Guthrie said frantically into the phone.  
  
"Would ya put Ma on the phone? Paige can't talk right now. Now put Ma on the phone, this is long distance."  
  
The young Guthrie grumbled on the other line, and Sam heard him calling for his mother.  
  
"Howdy Sam! Zach said you had some news?" his mother said.  
  
"Ma! Ah missed ya! They found Paige! She's all right, just restin'! Don't worry. The Professah said that he'd buy us tickets an' we'll fly on down tomorrow. Okay, Ma?"  
  
No answer.  
  
"Ma? Hello, Ma? Earth ta Ma!"  
  
Still no answer.  
  
"Hmm. Line musta went dead or somethin'." Sam put the phone on the receiver.  
  
West of New York State, in the southern state of Kentucky, in a small farm home, Lucinda Guthrie was laying on the floor after just fainting.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Here's the next chapter! I hope I didn't disappoint you. I'm sorry if you expected Wanda to be loads angrier, but wait until you see when she meets Pietro again. Er, uh, I mean *if* she sees Pietro again. Now, time for shout outs!  
  
DemonRogue13- Yep, put a Phoenix clue in here. Glad you seem okay with putting Crystal in, because I know some people don't like her, but I do. Hoped you liked this chapter! Thanks for your review!  
  
Crazyspaceystracey- I hope you're not disappointed in Wanda's reaction. I couldn't make her get too angry, or she'd burst a blood vessel. Glad you don't mind Crystal's in here! Thanks for your review!  
  
I Am The Anonymous Reviewer- Thanks for your review!  
  
SPoOkZ13412- Glad you liked the last chapter. I'm quite proud of that one (! Glad I'm getting you obsessed with Pietro/Crystal! You've been reading too much of my stories, dear ;-) Thanks for your review!  
  
Pauline L.- I thought the action scenes could have been better, but I'm glad you liked them anyways! Yep, Crystal is Quicky's wife in the comics. I haven't read too much with them in it, but their relationship's kinda rocky. They made a cute baby though ;-) Who's Crystal going to go get for help? Stay tuned for the next chapter. Thanks for your review!  
  
Ray1- Thanks for your review! Hoped you liked this one!  
  
Stay tuned for the next chapter, where you meet some comic characters that might or might not be familiar to you. Chances are, you've heard of them.  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	13. The Fantastic Four

Disclaimer- "You put your right foot in, you take your right foot out, you put your right foot in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about."  
  
Author's Note- Shower scene up ahead. Not totally detailed, but you can use your imagination if you'd like! ;-)  
  
Chapter Thirteen- The Fantastic Four  
  
"Gee, Crys, where'd you find this one?" Johnny Storm asked his girlfriend sarcastically as he and his brother-in-law settled the injured mutant onto the bed in the medical lab.  
  
"Hush up, Johnny!" Crystal snapped, getting gauzes and other medical supplies ready. "Did you honestly think that I would leave him there bleeding to death?"  
  
Johnny didn't answer, but he did stick his tongue out when she had her back turned, cutting the material of the mutant's suit.  
  
Crystal ripped down the rest of the way, and then pulling the top part of the suit to the side, revealing a battered up and skinny torso. She could almost count the ribs, and she swore he was paler than a ghost. She ran her fingers along the wound again, her gloves now off, revealing a tight yellow sleeve that ended at her knuckles, with a hole for her thumb. His entire left side was sticky from the scarlet blood.  
  
Johnny bit his lower lip slightly, feeling guilty and an itty-bit queasy. "I'll-I'll go with Ben and Sue. I can't watch this stuff."  
  
He hurried out of the room to find the Thing and his sister, Invisible Woman.  
  
Crystal immediately began to pat the side with a wet washcloth gently, afraid that if she rubbed at it, it would cause him pain.  
  
"Do you think he needs stitches, Reed?" she asked Mr. Fantastic. The older man glanced over at the man lying on the table, and he carefully inspected the wound.  
  
"Yes," he said, stretching his arm across the room to collect the supplies needed for stitching. In his hand was a syringe, and he carefully injected the injured man with it, numbing the area so they could work on it.  
  
The man stirred and groaned. Both Crystal and Reed froze, but the man did not move again. Slowly, they went back to work; Crystal cleaning up the wound, and Reed stitching it closed.  
  
"It's kind of burned there too. I wonder how he got this?" Reed said.  
  
"I'm guessing it's from one of those sentinel things," Crystal said, "Nuisance. They're a danger to everyone; humans, mutants, or anything alike."  
  
Reed nodded, finishing up on sewing the man back together. "I think you should clean his upper body too, it looks like he hasn't been washed properly in a long time. When he wakes up, we'll allow him a shower or a bath."  
  
Nodding, Crystal went to fetch some liquid Dial soap, a small basin filled with lukewarm water, and a clean rag.  
  
The man lying in the bed stirred again, and Crystal dabbed his forehead with the cloth. Reed then helped her remove the whole upper part of the suit, until only the waist and down was covered with clothes. They noticed how rough and itchy the material had been.  
  
"He has some ugly bruises," Reed observed. Crystal nodded sadly, rubbing the rag over the man's chest. He stirred again.  
  
"We'll have to find out about him when he wakes up. I'm guessing he's a mutant," Reed said.  
  
"Yes, I think so too," agreed Crystal. "Oh...Sweet Agon! They *numbered* him!"  
  
She lifted up the man's left arm and practically shoved it under Reed's nose for the older man to see.  
  
PM1040141. To the side of it, was a dull red, almost flesh colored bar code.  
  
Reed growled dangerously.  
  
"Monsters!" Crystal screeched. "How can they do this? Do they *want* another Holocaust happening? I might not have been around when it happened, or even been on Earth more than five years, but this...this is revolting! The shame of these evil humans! If this happened in Attilan..."  
  
The arm was jerked away from her grasp. Crystal gasped and gave a soft scream. The man was looking groggily around, and his eyes met Crystal's for a moment, and she became enamored with them. She couldn't look away, but his eyelids drooped closed and he was unconscious again.  
  
"He may have been delusional just now, but he has the saddest eyes I've ever seen," Crystal spoke softly.  
  
"He was just waking up, but I doped him up some more. He shouldn't have even opened his eyes yet," Reed said, tossing another syringe away.  
  
Crystal grabbed a dry towel and began patting the man's chest dry, careful not to get too close to the stitches.  
  
"I wonder how long he's been gone. What he looked like before they took him. Ugh, his hair's filthy. Maybe me and Sue could give him a makeover?" Crystal said, looking up to meet Reed Richards eyes.  
  
Sue entered then, wanting to see if there was anything she could help with. Reed rolled his eyes and stalked out to take a hot shower.  
  
"Sometimes I wonder why I married that man," Sue sighed, walking up to stand next to Crystal.  
  
"I don't know, Sue," Crystal teased, "He's very good looking for his age."  
  
Sue rolled her eyes and smiled. "So, anything I can do?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, yes. Go get some shampoo and conditioner, we're going to wash his hair." Crystal said.  
  
Sue raised an eyebrow but obliged. Moments later she came back with Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner.  
  
Crystal sighed as she squeezed water onto his hair from a washcloth. "Looks like my visit back home will be delayed. Again."  
  
Sue laughed, "Medusa will understand. You've got a patient now to look after."  
  
Crystal pulled her sleeves up, removing her thumbs from their holes. Sue squirted some shampoo into her hand, and Crystal began to lather it in the man's hair.  
  
"Such a unique color," Sue commented, tilting her head slightly to the side. "What is it? White? He looks too young to have white hair."  
  
"Well, if he is a mutant, that could be part of his mutation," Crystal offered, now taking the rag and putting more water on the man's hair, rubbing the soap out of it. "We'll need to get dry sheets and pillows."  
  
Sue nodded, and then grinned. "You know, if he hadn't looked like he just been through Hell, he'd be quite good looking."  
  
Crystal blushed slightly and gave her a mock scowl. "Johnny's good looking."  
  
"Crys, just because you're dating my brother doesn't mean you can't think that other men have the looks!" Sue explained, "In fact, I'd find Johnny boring after awhile if I were you."  
  
Crystal smiled slightly, "Sue, you're terrible. Now condition."  
  
Sue squirted a small amount of conditioner in her hand and began to massage it in the man's hair. After they were done with that and then rinsed it, they blow dried it.  
  
"I feel like such a beautician," Sue muttered after awhile. The man had groaned a few times, but he never woke up again.  
  
Crystal gasped, after pushing his hair back when it was dry, "Oh my God," she whispered, "His hair's so *soft*!"  
  
"Ooh! Lemme feel!" Sue said, rushing over to run a hand through the complete stranger's hair. "You're right!"  
  
"I wonder if it runs in his family? Nobody's hair could be that soft after washing it after how long without the genes," Crystal said, repeatedly touching the white hair. Both women giggled.  
  
"Ahem," someone cleared his throat behind Crystal. Crystal turned around to look and Sue raised her head. Johnny stood there, with a scowl etched across his face.  
  
"If you are quite finished feeling the guy's hair, come up for dinner." He gave them another glare for good measure and then stalked off.  
  
They both giggled again and left, but not before running their hands through the man's hair one last time.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Two and a half days had passed since they had brought the injured man to the Fantastic Four base.  
  
Reed walked into the infirmary to check on the mutant, only to find the man cutting his stitches off.  
  
"No! It's too soon, sir! The wound will reopen!" He said frantically, stretching his arm out to grab the scissors, but it was too late, the man had already removed them all. Instead of an open and gaping wound that Reed has expected, there was now a faint purple scar along the man's side. Even his burn wounds healed much more than they should have been already.  
  
"Wh-What?" he asked in confusion, walking over to the man, who was leaning over the table.  
  
"Sir, you should rest. You've been seriously injured-"  
  
"I'm fine," the man snapped in a raspy voice.  
  
"I really think-"  
  
"I said I'm *fine*," the man interrupted loudly, and it would have been intimidating had his voice not of been so hoarse.  
  
Reed was not afraid, however. "Well, then sir, can you tell me your name?"  
  
There was no answer.  
  
The door opened and Susan Storm-Richards walked in. "So, how is he, Mr. Fantastic?"  
  
"He's awake and just removed all of his stitches," Reed said, still trying to get information out of the man. Sue looked surprised. "Oh," was all that she said.  
  
"Sir, can we please have your name?" Reed tried again. The man mumbled something, but he couldn't understand it.  
  
"Sorry?"  
  
"Pi-ay-tro Max-i-moff," the man said ridiculously slowly. "Do I have to slow down for you too?"  
  
"Sorry Mr. Maximoff," Reed said, preparing himself to write down the name. "Could you spell it please?"  
  
Pietro Maximoff gave a very, very, annoyed sigh and began to spell it, also inappropriately slow. "P...I...E...T...R...O spaaace M...A...X...I...M...O...F...F. Got it?"  
  
Reed and Sue thought he was being rather rude.  
  
"Okay, Mr. Maximoff, well we have some extra clothes for you, and you can take a shower if you want, or you can eat first. Either one." Sue told him. Pietro turned around and gave them a dark glare.  
  
"I need a shower and clothes," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
Sue gave him a cheery smile. "Follow me."  
  
He followed her, forcing himself to slow down. They passed a kitchen on the way to their destination. A young woman sat at the kitchen table across from a young man with blonde hair. They were whispering sweet nothings to each other and smiling.  
  
"Oh, hello!" The woman said, getting up and walking over to him. Pietro furrowed his brow at her and stopped. She stuck out her hand.  
  
"I'm Crystalia Amaquelin," she said, smiling at him.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Crystalia," he forced out. The man walked up and wrapped his arm around Crystalia's waist protectively.  
  
"Johnny Storm, also known as the Human Torch," the man said, sticking his hand out for Pietro to shake. Pietro shook it, both trying to cut the circulation from each other's fingers.  
  
"Pietro Maximoff, also known as Quicksilver," Pietro mocked the Human Torch. "Pleased to meet you *Johnny*."  
  
"Why do they call you Quicksilver?" Johnny asked rather snootily. He felt threatened by the man.  
  
"None of your business," Pietro replied, and then went to follow Sue again.  
  
"Here, I'll go with you, show you around," Crystal said, running to catch up with them. "Johnny, don't you have some chores or something to do?"  
  
"What-wait-what?" Johnny asked in confusion, but Crystal just threw him a look over her shoulder and walked quickly towards Johnny's room.  
  
Sue was digging in Johnny's dresser drawers while Pietro stood off to the side, staring at nothing.  
  
"You're a few inches taller than Johnny, but you're as thin as a stick. So I don't really think size would be a problem," Crystal said, joining Sue in the search for clothes.  
  
"These jeans should be okay," Crystal said, pulling out a pair of light blue jeans. Sue pulled out a dark blue shirt and held it up, looking at him questionably.  
  
"Do you need underwear too?" Sue asked, immediately digging in the top drawer.  
  
Pietro thought for a moment while taking the clothes from them. He had been wearing the same underwear for four years, which was not a good feeling. To wear dirty underwear four years old or to wear the clean underwear of another man? Which one was more awkward?  
  
"Uh, yeah," he said, feeling a faint blush at his cheeks. Sue smiled and pulled out two pairs.  
  
"Boxers or briefs?" she asked holding them both up.  
  
"Boxers," he said at once.  
  
"I'll show you the washroom," Crystal piped up, rising to her feet.  
  
"Okay," Pietro said quietly. He followed her.  
  
"We can take you out to buy you some new clothes, and maybe a haircut," Crystal told him, stopping in front of a large pine door.  
  
"Yeah," Pietro said, putting his hand on the doorknob.  
  
"Okay, so there's shampoo and conditioner in there, and if you want to shave, the bottom right hand drawer under the sink has some disposable razors. I'll show you around later," and she walked off. Pietro watched her turn the corner, and then did he twist the knob and entered the bathroom.  
  
It was immaculate. The walls were washed, the toilet seat down, the counter of the sink was huge, a fresh, clean towel hung on a rack, and a small linen closet was next to the shower. Pietro peered in it, grabbing a large fluffy white towel and a white washcloth.  
  
Stripping off the grimy clothes he had worn for years, Pietro turned the water of the shower to near scalding, and then shakily stepped in.  
  
A sigh escaped him as the hot water beat down on him like needles. Placing his hands on the wall in front of him, Pietro tilted his head back to let his face and neck have a taste of the wondrous water. Then he held his head down, letting the water run down his shoulders and back. He never felt so good.  
  
After scrubbing his thin body with soap and washing his hair, Pietro shut the water off, pulled the shower curtain aside and grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist. Walking up to the sink and mirror, he rummaged in the drawer Crystal had told him where the razors were.  
  
He looked at his reflection, and the reflection blinked back at him. The man was almost unrecognizable, with longer, shaggier hair that now clung to his forehead from the wetness. His cheeks were sunken in a bit, and his eyes were haunted. He looked down into the sink, wetting the razor and then taking the shaving cream that had been off to the side and spreading it on his light whiskers. Pietro hated facial hair, and wanted it gone as soon as possible. He began to run the razor along his face.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Pietro walked into the kitchen, where all five of them were sitting down and chatting to each other. Sue caught sight of him and smiled.  
  
"Looking good, now all you need is a haircut," she said. Pietro automatically ran a hand through his hair. He noticed that both women were staring at the top of his head.  
  
"What?" he snapped. Both women blushed slightly,  
  
Crystal said quickly, "Nothing."  
  
"We haven't been introduced," said a man and he walked up to Pietro and shook his hand. "Ben Grimm."  
  
"Pietro Maximoff. What do they call you?"  
  
Ben looked confused for a moment until he finally understood, "Thing."  
  
"Thing."  
  
"Yes, Thing," Ben said, "Uh, here, this is why."  
  
He changed into an orange rock covered thing. Pietro took a step back.  
  
"And what do they call you?" Pietro asked Reed.  
  
"Mr. Fantastic."  
  
"Why?" A personality clicked in the back of his head, and now all Pietro wanted to do was annoy the crap out of them.  
  
Reed shrugged. "I...don't know, but I stretch." He demonstrated. Pietro turned to Sue, and she turned invisible.  
  
"Invisible Woman," she said.  
  
"Wouldn't have guessed," Pietro drawled dryly, turning to Johnny. "What can you do, Human Torch?"  
  
Johnny turned into his flame form.  
  
"Seen it," Pietro said boredly, and then lastly turned to Crystal.  
  
"I just go by Crystal. I'm not really part of this team, more like a reserve. I used to be, when Sue went on maternity leave." Crystal said, pushing a lock of strawberry blonde hair out of her eyes.  
  
"No powers?" Pietro asked monotone. Crystal furrowed her brow very slightly.  
  
"Yes, I do. I control the elements: water, fire, air, and earth." She said.  
  
"And why are you called Quicksilver?" Johnny asked. He didn't really like Pietro, he felt him as a threat to his relationship with Crystal for some reason.  
  
"None of your business." Pietro said calmly. "You have scissors?"  
  
Sue opened a drawer, took out a pair of scissors, and handed them to him.  
  
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to cut my hair," and then, faster a speeding bullet, Roadrunner, or Speedy Gonzales, Pietro ran out of the room and to the bathroom, where he promptly cut his hair into the way it used to be.  
  
He examined himself in the mirror, and looked at the wayward bangs. With a snip, he cut those off too. It wasn't him anymore. Now he looked more like his old self, just skinnier, and... different.  
  
His eyes, they were no longer the bright cerulean blue. But a midnight blue that would always hold the horrors that he had endured. To everybody, someone would wonder what had happened to him that made his eyes hold that 'haunted' look. These were not familiar to him, and he hated them. And he doubted anything could change them.  
  
They were like his father's. Haunted.  
  
His father had witnessed worst things than he had. Why were his eyes like this? Was he just weaker? His father had a good reason. He had witnessed babies burning, felt the lashes of whips on his back, and lost every single on of his family in the crematories of Auschwitz. Why had Pietro, when he only had been injected with God-knows-what, looked so haunted and afraid now?  
  
Had his father been right? All those years of trying to harden him as a child, had he just been right when his father told him he was weak, for what seemed like a millennia ago, although he was just seventeen?  
  
Pietro watched in despair as a tear leaked out of his eye and rolled down his cheek, making a path to his chin and the tear hung there for a moment, until finally, it dropped and splattered into the sink. The sight made his eyes fill up with tears more, and little watery paths made their way down his cheeks, until they met their end with a splat in the sink.  
  
A choked sob released from his throat, and Pietro could not stop it. Everything had changed, and he had missed out on so many things. Everything was so different.  
  
Another sob tore from him, and Pietro buried his face in his hands, sliding down to his knees. His hands moved up the side of his face and into his soft hair, balling them into fists.  
  
"Oh God..." he choked out, wet eyes looking up towards the ceiling. His body shook violently, and he could not control it. More sobs tore from his body, and he had no power to stop.  
  
"Oh God I'm so weak," Pietro said to himself, his last word ended in a choked whisper as the tears would not allow him to talk normally. He did not notice Johnny Storm standing in the doorway.  
  
"F-f-forgive me, Father," Pietro cried softly. He struggled to breath, but the sobs were taking all the air out of him. Pietro screwed his face up again, bending down to where his forehead rested on the rug in the bathroom.  
  
"I'm s-sorry."  
  
"I-I c-c-can't stand it, n-not knowing," he continued crying to himself, still not noticing he had a one-person audience.  
  
Suddenly, he laughed bitterly; a laugh that held no mirth at all. "Look at me. Oh, Father, if you could only see me now. What a disappointment I am; your only son. Wanda would make a better son than I ever will."  
  
Johnny could stand it no longer, and stepped into the bathroom, pretending he hadn't heard anything.  
  
"If there's anything you want, or anybody you want to contact," he said, "Just ask me, and we'll look 'em up for you."  
  
Pietro scrambled to his feet, using his super speed to wipe his face off. He glared at Johnny.  
  
"How long were you standing there?" he asked viciously.  
  
"Only a second ago," Johnny lied. Pietro stared at him intently, and then his face softened considerably.  
  
"Yeah, thanks," he muttered.  
  
"You want me to look for anybody?" Johnny asked.  
  
Pietro paused for a moment, looking at himself in the mirror again. "Yeah," he said finally, "The Brotherhood Boarding House of Bayville."  
  
Johnny's eyes widened. "You mean the Brotherhood that had been on the news years ago? For helping people on a train? But also have criminal records?"  
  
"Does it matter?" Pietro hissed, whirling to face the Human Torch.  
  
"No," Johnny said quickly, backing out of the washroom. "I'll look for them in a jiffy."  
  
He left.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Wowie! I was writing this chapter all day! Soo sorry if I have everybody from FANTASTIC FOUR! out of character. I have NEVER read a single comic of them, so I don't know, and I haven't seen the cartoon in years. But anyhoo, hope you like it. I just had to make Pietro break down and bawl his pretty eyes out.  
  
Crazyspaceystracey- Oho, trust me, Magneto's *boiling* inside. He just has to keep his cool because I fear he would have crumpled the entire mansion into a little ball of aluminum foil. He has an idea of what was going on in the camp thingy, but he doesn't know for sure, and when he finds out what they did to his son (his only son, might I add, makes it sound more dramatic) he'll most likely go ballistic. But aha! I changed the cannon because I didn't feel like sending our beloved Quickie to the moon. So the FANTASTIC FOUR! will have to do. On the plus side, Pietro-Johnny competition for Crystal's affections, which always makes things more exciting! ;-) Thanks for your review!  
  
SPoOkZ13412- Thanks  
  
DemonRogue13- BIG mistake number one on Crystal's part. She should have never of cheated on Pietro. I mean, it was Wanda's real estate agent for cripe's sake! And why would she go out with another guy, when all she had to say to Pietro was, "You. Me. Now." I would've! She's not going to cheat on him in here. I mean... *if* they get together she's not... Thanks for reviewing!  
  
I Am The Anonymous Reviewer- Thanks  
  
Wind Rider 2000- Thanks  
  
Zephyr- Thanks  
  
La cour de belles fleurs- Thanks  
  
Won't post next chapter until I have at least 85 reviews, so if you're reading this, please review!  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	14. Quarrels

Disclaimer- "Johnny Tight-Lips, where'd they shoot ya?" "I ain't sayin' nothin'." "But what will we tell the doctor?" "Tell him to suck a lemon."  
  
Author's Note- Lemme just say this before anybody comes to conclusions. There will be NO Todd/Wanda, Tanda, Wodd, Woad, Toanda, or whatever you want to call it. No romantic relationship between them at all, but they'll be closer.  
  
Chapter Fourteen- Quarrels  
  
*Two days after rescuing the captives*  
  
"Do you know what they did to him?" Wanda asked Todd quietly, sitting closer to him than she usually did. The poor guy just practically came from Hell; she wasn't just about to hex him into the wall.  
  
Todd sighed. "Wanda, I'll tell you the truth. If they did anything to him like the things they did to me..." he trailed off, unable to finish.  
  
"It was that bad, huh?" Wanda said softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. He would have rejoiced in the contact between them four years ago, but now he barely noticed that she was closer to him than she had ever been before.  
  
"You have no idea," he muttered, turning away from her. "It wasn't anything like the Holocaust, really. There was no backbreaking labor or crematories or anything vile like that. Experiments, mostly. There were occasional beatings, especially from Dyke." His eyes shown with anger at mentioning the guard, his hands curling into tight fists until the knuckles of his pale skin turned ghost-white.  
  
"Did he beat Pietro?" she whispered, her hand tightening on his shoulder for fear of what the answer would be.  
  
"Sometimes he gathered a group of us. Only four times out of the three years Dyke was there was Pietro in the same group as me," he bowed his head, "Oh, God, you won't believe how terrible it was, Wanda. The beatings we all went through. But sometimes he didn't get to some of us."  
  
"But did he beat Pietro?" Wanda's voice shook slightly.  
  
Todd was silent for a moment. Wanda's heart thumped, waiting for his reply. Then a sorrowful whisper was uttered from him, but Wanda was close enough to hear it clearly.  
  
"He never screamed..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"You have a great taste in clothes, Pietro," Crystal complimented him, setting down all the shopping bags near the front door. "They'll look good on you when you wear them."  
  
Pietro raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed slightly, realizing what she had just said.  
  
"Thanks," Pietro said dryly, taking the bags that contained his clothes and separating them from the others.  
  
"Uh, I think Johnny might have information on...on what you were wanting to know about," she said awkwardly, walking straight ahead to lead him to where the Human Torch was currently supposed to be. Pietro followed.  
  
Johnny was sitting amongst various, expensive, technological equipment when Crystal and Pietro entered. He turned around on the swivel chair and gave Pietro a small smile.  
  
"Well, the Brotherhood is where they always had been, the Brotherhood Boarding House of Bayville." Johnny told him.  
  
"S'long, see ya, bye," Pietro said, but Crystal quickly grabbed his arm before he could prepare himself to run all the way home.  
  
"Pietro, we're driving you there. We don't want you captured again," Crystal said firmly, holding onto his arm very tightly.  
  
"They can't catch me," he argued.  
  
"But they did the first time, didn't they?" she shot back at him, holding his gaze. He struggled in her grasp, but she only grabbed hold of his other arm.  
  
"Just, just let us drive you there. To make sure you arrive there safely, alright?" she said, staring at him with pleading eyes.  
  
"Fine," he said grudgingly, "but you better be ready to drop me off there in two minutes."  
  
"Give us a few hours. Our headquarters are quite some time away from Bayville."  
  
"What am I suppose to do in a few hours?" Pietro asked incredulously, again wondering why people could stand to be so slow.  
  
"Well," Crystal said, "for the half-hour it takes for the five of us to get ready, you might want to pack first, eat something, and if you want you could work in the workout room for a little while."  
  
Pietro contemplated this for a second. "First," he said, "I'm going to change out of these damn clothes," he gestured to the borrowed clothes from Johnny, "and change into my new ones."  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Wanda shook, her face ashen. Her fists were clenched at her sides, knuckles bone-white. She stormed right up to the Xavier mansion, determined to tell her father on what the bastards had done to her brother.  
  
With a wave of her hand, the gates opened themselves. Then, without knocking or doing anything to announce her arrival, the door flung open, nearly banging off the hinges.  
  
"Hello Wanda" Multiple said cheerily, stopping on his way up the stairs. She merely growled at him, demanding to tell her where her father was.  
  
"Uh-uh," Jamie struggled, a little frightened. "I think he's in the med- bay. Or-or he could be in the Professor's office. Uh-um Scott probably knows." He scampered up the stairs, tripping on the third to the last one, three clones popping out of him. Over the years he had gained some control and managed to make lesser clones that came when involving clumsiness.  
  
Now trembling visibly, she hurried down to the medical bay, where some of the captives where recovering, and where her father undoubtedly was.  
  
She slowed when she heard voices. Two of them were familiar, the third was a female and new to her. Approaching cautiously, Wanda stopped outside of the door.  
  
"Ms. Dane, would you be so kind, and if you are comfortable about it-could you tell us what exactly happened in there?" her father asked in a somewhat calm and soothing voice. Wanda peeked over at the woman that was obscured from her view by her father's figure. All she saw was a flash of something green, presumably the girl's hair.  
  
"Horrible things," Ms. Dane whispered, "Experiments and stuff. Sometimes beatings. But they-they usually beat the males more often. Sometimes right in front of our cells...sometimes in a group in a secluded room. They-they filmed them all. Then they played it...they showed us what they did, over and over and over again. It was like reliving our beatings... The assholes. They're all assholes!" She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.  
  
"There, there, Lorna," soothed the Professor, patting her shoulder. "Wanda, you may speak to your father if you want."  
  
Wanda started, cursing herself for not remembering that the Professor probably knew she had been there the whole time.  
  
She walked hesitantly to her father, as he turned towards her, his expression impassive. Now she thought it wasn't such a good idea to tell him what she learned from Todd. His left eyebrow rose ever so slightly, and she straightened herself to her full height, held her head high, and walked determinedly to him.  
  
"Father," she said, her voice surprisingly steady even though she was shaking all over. "I have something to tell you that I learned from Toad."  
  
The chaired behind her hit her in the back of her knees, and she collapsed into it with a surprised gasp. The chair beside the bed also scooted up and Magneto lowered himself in it calmly, part of his face shadowed by his helmet. His back was so straight that it looked like as if a rod was keeping him up, and his arms rested on the armrests like the stature of Abe Lincoln. He waited patiently.  
  
Wanda swallowed several times, now unsure whether or not she should tell him. He might get extraordinarily angry, and that wasn't a good or a safe thing to happen. 'Come on, Wanda,' she scolded herself mentally, 'He's your father. He won't take his anger out on you!'  
  
"Uh," she was now aware that Lorna, her father, and the professor where staring at her. "I-I learned some-things about-about the camp from Toad."  
  
"So you said," Magneto's voice seemed to echo from the inside of that ridiculous helmet on top of his head. The Professor gave him a reproving look. Lorna hugged her knees, green eyes staring intently at her.  
  
Wanda lowered her eyes to look at her knees. "He told me what they did to Pietro," she said lowly. Magneto's hand twitched slightly.  
  
"Yes?" he said slowly, almost eagerly.  
  
"I-I asked him if they ever beat him."  
  
"And?" Magneto's voice now held a note of impatience.  
  
"About Pietro, he-he said that he-that he never," she swallowed, "screamed. Toad said Pietro never screamed. When-when Toad was with him, at least."  
  
Tears clouded her vision and she shut her eyes, the tears streaming down her face as she did so. She raised her head and opened her eyes, staring at her father. He had gone rigid.  
  
She slid from her seat and down to her knees and fell forward onto Magneto's knees. She clutched to the royal purple cape, seeking comfort from the one man she had known raised her from the time she was just eight to the now adult woman she was. But he sat there, unmoving, staring straight ahead.  
  
The daughter of the most known mutant terrorist raised herself up slightly, so her head was level with his chin, and she raised her hands to the side of his head, grasping the helmet gently in her palms and her fingers, and lifted. The expression on his face was stony, and he seemed not to have noticed the sudden coolness that surrounded him, where his helmet kept the area around his head warmer than usual. It slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor noisily.  
  
"Father," Wanda choked. She needed the comfort that only a father could give; where was it? She cupped his face between her hands, and then slowly, his gaze shifted to her face, broken by despair, and the man was not Magneto anymore for that instant. She broke down in pitiful sobs, rushing forward to bury her face in his shoulder, and awkwardly, the great Master of Magnetism wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, his face contorted in anguish, but no tears spilled.  
  
"He's still alive," she choked out, muffled by his shoulder, "I can feel it. He's still out there, alive. I can feel his heartbeat beside mine...Oh, God he's still out there."  
  
Erik tightened his arms around her, his embrace as much as a comfort to him as it was to her.  
  
He wouldn't loose another child...He couldn't.  
  
The Professor left quietly to give them privacy. Lorna turned her back towards them, attempting to go asleep, but couldn't help but eavesdrop a little.  
  
"We'll find him," Erik said soothingly, "He's my son."  
  
'I need him.'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Arewethereyet? Arewethereyet? Arewethereyet?"  
  
Ben Grimm gripped the wheel of the van tightly, clearly trying not to loose his temper with the maniac behind him. Johnny was in the passenger's seat, his arms across his chest, his face flushed angrily. He too, was trying not to turn around and throttle the speed demon. Pietro would probably move out of the way quickly, annoying them again from a different and safer spot. Crystal smiled slightly from her seat next to him.  
  
"No, seriously, are we there yet?"  
  
"No," Johnny growled.  
  
"Are we close?"  
  
"About two and a half hours," Ben informed calmly.  
  
"What?! What am I suppose to do for two and a half hours!" Pietro wailed in disbelief, horror etching his features.  
  
"Here," Crystal said, shifting her body away from the window so she would be facing him, "we'll play a game."  
  
"What kind of a game?"  
  
"I don't know, a car game."  
  
"What kind of a car game?" he asked.  
  
"How many car games are out there?" Crystal asked, shrugging. "I don't know, the license plate game?"  
  
Pietro rolled his eyes.  
  
"I-Spy?"  
  
"Fine," Pietro said. "Me first."  
  
"I spy with my little eye something that is big, moving, and blue with the number four painted on the side."  
  
Crystal rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh, "The Fantastic Four van."  
  
"Clever one, you are," Pietro said, giving a low whistle.  
  
"Don't be smart with me," Crystal warned, and then drew in a breath. "I spy...with my little eye, something green."  
  
"The grass?" He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"No."  
  
"That mini-van over there. Ugh, who'd want a green mini-van? Who'd want a mini-van period?"  
  
"No."  
  
"That velvet pillow thing by your feet."  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Ben Grimm's jacket."  
  
Crystal clapped, "Bravo, Monsieur Maximoff."  
  
"Oh, you know French. How nice," he said sarcastically.  
  
"What's wrong with French?" Crystal asked with a scrunched forehead.  
  
"It's not original! So many darn people know the language! Learn something exotic like...Taiwananese!"  
  
"That's not even a word. Taiwan is not exotic."  
  
"Dare you to argue with me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ooh, is that a challenge?"  
  
Crystal backed up a bit. Something in his tone was different when he said that line. Like he uttered it a million times before, that he automatically said it when someone went against him.  
  
"Maybe," she said a bit cautiously.  
  
"Well, it is to exotic. Case closed." He crossed his arms across his chest and huffed.  
  
"Oh, so if French is so unoriginal then what original languages do you know?" Crystal asked as snobby as she could.  
  
"I know lots of languages." [1]  
  
"Name one."  
  
"French."  
  
"Ugh, we just had that discussion about how 'unoriginal' it is!" Crystal threw her hands up in the air.  
  
"Fine. I know German."  
  
"And why do you know German?"  
  
"Because my adoptive parents spoke it, and my father had me tutored."  
  
"You're adopted" Crystal asked curiously, surprised.  
  
"Does it matter?" He snapped.  
  
"No, of course not. Why would it?"  
  
"Then why do you sound so fricken' surprised?"  
  
"Well, how the hell should I have known?" Crystal snapped back. "Now say something in German."  
  
"Ihr Liebhaber ist ein Schnitzer."  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"Your lover-boy is a boner."  
  
Johnny turned around abruptly in his seat and attempted to dive at Pietro from the front, but because there was not that much room for diving at people in the van, he fell into Ben, which made him swerve the car.  
  
"Damn it, Johnny, sit down!" Ben growled after gaining control over the vehicle again.  
  
"Did you hear what he just called me?" Johnny said vehemently, turning around to give Pietro an icy glare.  
  
Crystal tried to glare at Pietro, but dissolved into giggles. "Pietro, that is not appropriate!"  
  
Pietro smirked arrogantly. "I know Italian too."  
  
"Oh?" Crystal raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you say something in Italian then?"  
  
"Lei sono bello caldo." [2]  
  
"And what does that mean?"  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
"You didn't seem to say it in a question." Crystal said.  
  
Pietro shrugged. "Whattaya gonna do?"  
  
"Two more hours," Ben said to them over his shoulder.  
  
"Two more-that was only-what the hell am I suppose to do for two more hours?!" Pietro bellowed, making all of the occupants of the van wince.  
  
Pietro groaned loudly, and slumped back in the bench. "So, what's Sue and Reed's kid's name again?"  
  
"Franklin," Johnny answered.  
  
"Franklin?"  
  
There must have been a note of distaste in his voice because Crystal said, "What's wrong with Franklin? You don't like it?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong with Richard. I, personally, don't like the name." Pietro defended.  
  
"Oh, yeah, and Pietro's sooo much better." Johnny said sarcastically. "What the Hell kind of a name is Pietro anyways?"  
  
"It's Eastern European!" he exclaimed hotly. [3]  
  
"And why is your name 'Eastern European'? This is America!" Johnny said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Because I was born in Eastern Europe, you bastard! What the Hell is wrong with you? Can you not go a day without offending me?" Pietro hissed, leaning forward in his seat to Johnny's ear.  
  
"Maybe if you stop being such a little prick-"  
  
"Stop! Stop it this instant!" Crystal shouted over the both of them. Both stopped arguing and glowered at her.  
  
"Both of you, quit acting like a bunch of two year olds! This is ridiculous!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
*One hour and forty-five minutes later*  
  
"So there was this dance at your school that only the girls could ask the guys to go?" Crystal asked, trying to make conversation. Pietro nodded moodily, arms still crossed, leg crossed over the other in a 'manly' way, and looking out the window.  
  
"Who asked you?"  
  
"Four different girls."  
  
"Oh," Crystal said, a little surprised, "Who'd you take?"  
  
"All four of them."  
  
Now Crystal was even more surprised. He took four girls to the dance and they hadn't even minded? And he was so confident in himself that he thought he could handle four of them for one night? He was more egotistical than anyone she had ever known.  
  
Johnny made an indistinguishable noise. She ignored him, however.  
  
There was another awkward silence. Pietro glanced out the window and jumped up to peer out of it, excitement, relief, and worry mingled in his expression.  
  
"We're in Bayville!" he exclaimed, a small smile spreading on his face. "We're in Bayville!"  
  
Crystal and Ben smiled, and even Johnny did a little bit too. Right now Pietro looked like a giddy little boy whose mother just brought home a present.  
  
It was ten minutes later that they pulled into the driveway of the Brotherhood Boarding House that a single tear rolled down Pietro's porcelain colored skin.  
  
The boarding house looked much different than it had four years ago. Somebody had actually taken the effort to fix up the shutters, the roof, the siding, the windows, doors, and chipped paint. The only problem with it now is that the old green jeep was still there, dented and scratched, and the lawn hadn't been mowed in quite awhile.  
  
Before Ben could even properly stop the car, Pietro fumbled for the handle and opened the door, stumbling out of the van and running to the house. Crystal called out to him when she got out, running to catch up with him, and Johnny and Ben followed. Pietro froze at the door, his arm still raised to knock at it, and he hesitated. What were they going to say when they see him standing there on their doorstep, perfectly fine? He knocked, anxiously waiting for someone to answer.  
  
He heard footsteps coming down the stairs and the door opened.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Take THAT! What a cliffhanger!  
  
[1] In my story, "Blood is Thicker Than Water" Magneto has Pietro and Wanda learn several foreign languages to broaden their education. Shameless plugging but, go check it out! Pwetty pwease?  
  
[2] Lei sono bello caldo (Italian)- Pietro was really lying when he told Crystal what it means. What he actually said to her was "You are pretty hot."  
  
[3] It's true! It's true! Pietro and Wanda were ACTUALLY born in Eastern Europe! If you rent an Evolution DVD and look at his profile, it says so under Place of Birth.  
  
Actually, sorry if I do get all the foreign languages wrong and stuff. I got the translations from Freetranslation.com  
  
Crazyspaceystracey- Yes, it is weird that they both have to do with fire and both of their names are some kind of form of "John". Actually, it wouldn't be nearly as weird if they both didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes. But I was actually referring to Amara and Roberto's mutant forms when Pietro said "seen it". Oh...THAT cannon. Uh, sure ;-)  
  
Purity Black- Yes, they are quite good together...When they're TOGETHER, that is. Meaning when she's not cheating on him and when he's not losing his temper (both comic-wise). I'd be jealos of Crystal too! ;-) ::Mutters:: Lucky bitch...  
  
I Am The Anonymous Reviewer- Yes, I picture those Maximoff's to have quite nice hair. It's so soft that it's addicting to touch. Ever have that happen to you? For now on, you are dubbed thee IATAR, just because your name's so darn LONG.  
  
DemonRogue13- Pietro needs somebody to love and to help him get through all that crap. Nobody else is allowed to love Pietro intimately in my universe. Kietro must die. Rietro must die. I can NOT stand those pairings. Yes...Pietro is hot.  
  
Tonianne- Thank you!  
  
SPoOkZ13412- Here's what happens next! Like it?  
  
Witch- Uk- Glad I got you interested!  
  
Next for updates (in order)- In Dreams, The Downside of Falling in Love, Blood is Thicker Than Water, and (possibly, if writer's block goes away) Up in Flames.  
  
Won't post the next chapter of this story until I get 90 reviews. See, I'm going by fives.  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	15. Reunions II

Disclaimer- "Blech...ugh.... I'll take the crab juice."  
  
Chapter Fifteen- Reunions II  
  
Pietro held his breath as the door opened. Behind him, he could sense the presence of Ben, Johnny, and Crystal.  
  
A young man with yellowy-blonde hair and blue eyes appeared in the doorway. His eyes widened slightly, and then he let out a long and insane cackle. The three people behind him took a step back in surprise.  
  
"Well, I'll be darned!" he grinned, rushing forward to squeeze the living daylights out of the speedster. He then threw his arm over his shoulder and led him inside of the boarding house, leaving the door wide open. Hesitantly, the other three walked inside.  
  
"We've been lookin' all over for ya, mate!" Pyro exclaimed, clapping Pietro hard on the back and then shoving him down on the new couch.  
  
"P-Pyro?" Pietro choked out.  
  
"That's my name, don't wear it out," Pyro laughed again, but uttered a small cough muffled by his hand, "You pissed off your sister, mate. Destroyed a whole sentinel and a few warehouses all by herself when she saw you weren't there with the other prisoners."  
  
"She-she what?" Pietro asked, astonished.  
  
But Pyro had ignored him, bounding towards the foot of the stairs. There, he cupped his hand by his mouth, and let out a terrible yodel that ended with a ridiculously high pitch.  
  
"Yodel-lay-HEEEEEEE lookit who's here!" Pyro bellowed up the stairs, then turned abruptly and introduced himself to the two Fantastic Four members and its reserve.  
  
"St. John Allerdyce is the name," he said, shaking every one of their hands in the time span of five seconds. "Call me Pyro."  
  
Fred came out of the kitchen. He had changed a lot in the face. His blonde Mohawk had disappeared, leaving his head shiny and bald, and around his mouth was a sandy blonde goatee.  
  
"What's all this racket you're making, Pyro?" He asked, stuffing the rest of a sandwich in his mouth.  
  
"Lookit who's here!" Pyro exclaimed with a flourish towards Pietro. Fred stared at Pietro. And he stared. Finally, until the point where Pietro thought that Freddy's brain wasn't processing anything, Fred rushed forward, pulled Pietro up in a standing position, and mashed him against his body in a big, bear hug.  
  
Pietro screamed weakly in alarm as all the air rushed out of him and felt like he was being flattened to death.  
  
"Freddy-I can't-can't breath!" he rasped, struggling to push the monster of a man away from him. Fred dropped Pietro, and he crumpled to the couch breathing in ragged breaths.  
  
"You're too skinny, Pietro," Fred told him, patting his shoulder, "I'll go get some food to get into ya." And he stomped heavily off to the kitchen to make a grand meal.  
  
Footsteps came from the stairway and Pietro turned towards it, holding his breath once again. Off to the side, Pyro was standing there with his arms crossed and a smug grin spread on his face. He faltered a bit and coughed, but immediately went back into the same position he was in before.  
  
Todd was the first one. He took one look at Pietro, and ignoring the others that had come with him, he let out a shaky cry of joy and bounded towards him, enveloping the young man into a hug before him.  
  
"Oh, God, I thought Trask took you back, yo!" He cried, and Pietro held him tighter.  
  
"Naw, they gotta be pretty fast to catch me, huh?" he said with a weak smile. Todd pulled back and smiled at him too.  
  
"Yeah, I was scared shitless," he whispered, "It would've all have been for nothing if you didn't escape with me. That was the whole idea, yo."  
  
The Toad stepped away from him and now Lance stepped forward, eyeing Pietro with narrowed brown eyes. Solemnly, he stuck out his hand. Pietro took it hesitantly. Instantly, he was yanked into the warm and brotherly embrace.  
  
"You got ten seconds to get away from me before you get your ass kicked for scaring the fucken shit out of me," Lance whispered to him, shoving him away but then hugging him again. Pietro let out some sort of strangled laugh. He pulled back, tears clouding his eyes.  
  
"I'm serious," Lance warned, his voice oddly choked. He started blinking rapidly.  
  
"I know," Pietro said in a half sob, half laugh, running a hand through his white hair.  
  
"I'm coming over there," Lance said, but he made no move to advance on Pietro.  
  
"I know," the speedster whispered, looking at the floor. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hands.  
  
"I'm going to kick your ass now," Lance took a step forward, but then hugged Pietro again.  
  
Pyro coughed. "Aww, c'mon, maties, you're getting me all wishy-washy. Break it up or get a room. I wasn't this emotional when he showed up unexpectantly on the doorstep."  
  
Lance pulled back again. "God, man, now you're getting me all choked up. Give me a cigarette," he turned to Pyro, who immediately got one from the pack in his blue jeans. Lance lit it and the smoke wafted from the corner of his mouth. He sighed, blinking rapidly again. He offered the cigarette to Pietro, who took it silently.  
  
"That's not good for your running," Lance sounded like he was going to cry again.  
  
"Then why the fuck did you offer it to me?" Pietro cried, taking another drag. Lance took it away from him and gave it to Pyro, who immediately started smoking it.  
  
"I don't know," Lance's voice was trembling violently now, and he kept his head bowed to hide his eyes. He sniffled a few times.  
  
Through the whole thing, Ben and Johnny and Crystal had watched from the side silently. Johnny was looking at them with a little disgust, since he thought it was atrocious to ever even hold a cigarette. Ben and Crystal looked sympathetic.  
  
Pietro was breathing rather heavily now, but he somehow managed to ask, "Where's Wanda?"  
  
Lance placed the heel of his palm on his forehead and squinted his eyes shut tightly. "She's at the institute."  
  
"What? She left the Brotherhood?" Pietro asked incredulously.  
  
Lance shook his head again. "No, she went there to see your father."  
  
"Oh," he said softly.  
  
Lance sighed wearily; "Yeah, he and Xavier are allies now. They've teamed up when Magneto couldn't find you without his help."  
  
Fred came from the kitchen, humming cheerfully. In his hand was a plate with a sub sandwich on it and in the other was a large glass of milk.  
  
"Here you go, buddy," he said happily, setting the food down on the coffee table, careful to set the glass on a coaster. He shoved Pietro forcefully on the couch.  
  
"You eat every single crumb of that," he said pointing a finger at him. Slowly, Pietro began to eat, but stopped immediately when he noticed the two members of the Fantastic Four and Crystal. He jumped back up.  
  
"Oh!" he exclaimed, and then told them to sit down on the couch or the chair.  
  
"These are Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, and Crystalia Amaquelin," he introduced them and they all shook hands with the Brotherhood boys.  
  
"So, we goin' over to the Institute to go surprise the piss out of Wanda?" Pyro asked, coughing into his sleeve.  
  
"Are you alright?" Pietro asked in mild concern. Pyro nodded, coughing again.  
  
"I've had a tickle in me throat for the past year an' a half," he informed him, making a loud grunt in the back of his throat. "Crikey, it's been driving me bonkers."  
  
Todd twirled Lance's car keys in his fingers. "So, you wanna go?"  
  
Pietro looked around at the guests. "If you guys wanna come and meet a bunch of other mutants, just follow on behind us."  
  
"I really think-" Johnny began.  
  
Crystal cut him off, "We'll follow."  
  
Johnny scowled at her.  
  
"We're not all gonna fit in the jeep," Lance said. "Freddy takes up more room than he used to."  
  
"We'll take two people," Crystal said.  
  
"I'll go with you," Pietro volunteered, and Pyro did also.  
  
And that's how they left, with Fred in the back of the jeep, Lance driving with Todd in the passenger's seat, and Ben and Johnny in the front seats of the van with Crystal, Pyro, and Pietro in the back.  
  
"So, Sheila, dating anybody?" Pyro asked Crystal immediately after they took off.  
  
"She's dating me and her name's not Sheila," Johnny snarled, feeling insulted that these two men would hit on his girlfriend when they knew she was going out with him. Well, Pietro had known, but he still flirted with her.  
  
Pyro held his hands up in peace. "I'm just wondering. You're such a figjam."  
  
"Figjam?" Johnny asked.  
  
"Fuck-I'm-good-just-ask-me," Pyro said, taking a cigarette out of his pack. "Mean's you think highly of yourself. See Pietro, you're not the only one."  
  
Pietro grunted.  
  
Pyro flicked his lighter open, making a little fairy the size of a beetle come from it. It danced its way to the tip of his cigarette until finally it settled itself there and ignited. Pyro rolled down the window, blowing the smoke out.  
  
"Don't smoke in here," Johnny snapped. Pyro paid him no mind, but continued to blow smoke out the window, until finally, he took the little flame from the cigarette at the end and then threw it out the window. In his hand, he started manipulating the flame to do his will. Pietro watched out of boredom more than anything.  
  
Pyro made a little circus, with a look of concentration on his face. Pietro thought that was unusual, since Pyro barely ever looked concentrated when he used his powers. Finally, he sighed and closed his hand into a fist, snuffing out the flames that had been there only a second before.  
  
They had pulled into the driveway and in front of the door of the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters.  
  
Logan was at the front door, arguing with Lance. Taking a deep breath, Pietro followed Crystal out of the door, slamming it shut behind him.  
  
Logan had smelt something unusual, a familiar scent. He looked up at the unfamiliar van that had followed Lance's jeep. Logan's eyes widened slightly when he caught sight of an all-too-familiar white haired speed demon.  
  
"Maximoff," he called out, "Yer late."  
  
Pietro looked flustered and flabbergasted, unable to say anything. Logan shook his hand. Pietro now looked thoroughly frightened.  
  
Johnny looked down at Logan with a curious look on his face. Logan looked right back up and growled. "What are you lookin' at, bub?"  
  
Johnny averted his eyes quickly from Wolverine. Quickly and quietly, they all walked in, Logan shutting the door behind him.  
  
"Alvers!" Someone yelled in frustration. Pietro looked and saw it was Scott Summers.  
  
Scott immediately skidded to a halt and stared at Pietro with shock.  
  
"Where's Wanda?" Pietro asked as calmly as he could. Scott didn't answer and continued staring at him.  
  
"Where's Wanda?" Pietro asked again, this time with more annoyance.  
  
"Med-bay," Scott said as though in a trance, and then Pietro was gone.  
  
Pietro found himself just outside of the door of the med-bay. There she was, hugging their father tightly. She was crying.  
  
He stood there for a minute, eyes shining, he gulped, still frozen there by the sight.  
  
Until his father's gaze looked up, and he froze, taken aback by what he saw. He let go of Wanda, and slowly stood up, gazing at him in confusion. Wanda turned around to see what her father was staring at.  
  
And she let out a cry of disbelief. Rushing forward, she seized his head and pulled it down until they were both at eye level. For a few seconds they stared at each other, and relief swept through Pietro when he realized that she had not beeen harmed throughout the years he was gone.  
  
Until she backhanded him across the face.  
  
He stumbled back a few steps, his hand clutching the side of his face where she had hit surprisingly hard. He gasped at the stinging pain as he stared at her in disbelief. She rushed at him again and he coward, and tensed up when she wrapped his arms around him.  
  
"Where the fuck were you?" she sobbed, then immediately seized him by the shoulders and shook him violently, repeating the same question over and over.  
  
Trying to answer but not being able to form the words from his mouth, his father calmly put a hand on Wanda's shoulder and gently pried her away.  
  
"Wanda, I'm sure Pietro did not appreciate that," he said softly, and forcefully sat her down in the chair next to Lorna Dane, who had jumped up in alarm at the sound of the slap.  
  
Then something happened that Pietro did not expect.  
  
Magneto enveloped his son into a hug.  
  
Releasing him almost instantly, Magneto cleared his throat and exited. Wanda grabbed her brother gently by the arm and led him to where everybody else was.

**(Next section)**

Crystal gasped when she saw him. "Pietro what happened to your face?"  
  
He rubbed the red and white handprint on his face tenderly, shaking his head.  
  
"He got bitch-slapped!" crowed Ray Crisp. Wanda turned around and raised her hand threateningly.  
  
"Sorry, Wanda, didn't mean it, sorry," Ray instantly apologized, raising his hands up in front of him in a defense position.  
  
With her lip curled, Wanda turned away from him. She eyed the strangers that were standing in front of her, especially the woman who had spoken.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked viciously.  
  
"Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four," Johnny said proudly. "Also-known-as the Human Torch."  
  
Wanda raised an eyebrow. "I don't give a damn about your code name, I just want to know who the hell you are. Don't waste my time."  
  
"Ben Grimm," Ben stepped forward and shook hands with her, which she did reluctantly. From the side, Professor Xavier and Magneto looked on in interest.  
  
"Crystal Amaquelin," Crystal smiled, shaking hands with her also. Wanda looked suspicious. She turned to her brother.  
  
"You didn't seduce this one did you?" she asked accusingly.  
  
"No!" he said vehemently. "I don't do every fricken woman I meet, Wanda! Have some faith, I just got out of that hellhole."  
  
"I'm just making sure," she reassured him, patting the side of the face she had slapped. He winced slightly.  
  
The Professor wheeled forward. "Well, since you don't seem to be the enemy, and you brought back one of our members safe and sound and well taken care of, I must invite you to stay for dinner. If the drive is too far, the Institute could always provide rooms for those in need, or who just want to stay."  
  
Ben smiled, "That sounds good."

**(End chapter, since they're taking away my section separaters)**

Okay, here's the chapter. I know I said I'd update Up In Flames first, but this chapter came quicker than that one. I'm working on it.  
  
Crazyspaceystracey- I prefer Wanda with John to any other character, but it's not my favorite pairing. Ah, well what I meant was that they were both crazy in the head, and decided that it wouldn't work out. Actually, it's more like John's crazy, and she just couldn't handle having her undergarments mysteriously burned every other night. Not that they're safe from his fire-bearing hands any time soon. Actually, John's got a mental illness in my universe, and that will be explored a bit later. She just can't handle it, and not to mention she's a bit tweaked up there, right? Yep they're still close friends. I'm not having Lorna be Magneto's daughter in my universe, because then it screws up Evo's whole universe. He'll be more like her mentor in here, and she learns to love him like a father. No blood relationship in here. Thanks for your review!  
  
DemonRogue13- Yep, plans for Pietro and Crystal. Not much in this one, I'm just kinda making them more like friends in here. There are two sequels though. I liked how I had Todd say that too, it just felt best that way. Thanks for your review!  
  
Eboni- Yes! You don't know how much of a compliment that is, calling me evil. I feel all good inside... Hehe, I would be worried too if I had to stay in the car with Pietro that long. I'd be worried for my sanity. Thanks for your review!  
  
Purity Black- Yep, sadly, Crystal really did cheat on Pietro...And I think she's an itty-bit insane. Actually, their both off their rocket. They both have so many problems, and I think they should apologize, have sex, and then another baby. It would make them so much more happier... Actually, I was thinking of having Lance answer the door, but I changed it to good ol' Pyro. You gotta love that guy. Thanks for your review!  
  
Don't smoke, folks! It's bad for you! My dad has been smoking since he was 15, and he's only 45 now and has already suffered two heart attacks from the smoking. If you DO smoke, quite ASAP! It not only kills you faster, it kills us too. So, not only save yourself, but prevent others from dying from second-hand smoke related disease.  
  
Hmm...Can we go for 100 reviews? Please review! If you don't I'll threaten not to write or post the next chapter until I do! 


	16. Dinner at Xavier's

Disclaimer- "Oh, Al! Is that money in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" "Money, Peg. Just like before we got married."  
  
Author's Note- I apologize in advance at any accent butchering I may do.  
  
Chapter Sixteen- Dinner at Xavier's  
  
"Well, I know one thing," Crystal told Johnny after they had taken a tour of the mansion, "This place is sure a hell a lot bigger than ours."  
  
Johnny stared at Crystal, shocked. "Did you just swear?" Crystal rarely uttered curse words, so it was a surprise when she did so.  
  
Crystal shrugged. "Someone has to once in a while."  
  
"Hello," a cheerful voice said behind them, and the two of them turned. It was a young man, probably in his late teens, with brown hair and brown eyes. He gave both of them a very friendly smile.  
  
"Hi," Johnny said, sticking out his hand to shake. "Johnny Storm."  
  
"Jamie Madrox. Uh, so you guys like it here?" Jamie smiled. He and Crystal introduced themselves to each other.  
  
"Yeah, it seems like a nice place," Johnny said with satisfaction, looking around the hallway and observing the vases on a few random tables and the few paintings on the walls.  
  
"It is," said Jamie, resting his hands on his hips, "I couldn't have imagined a better place to live."  
  
"How long have you been here?" Crystal asked. Jamie flashed a grin at her.  
  
"Since I was twelve. Six years now," he told her proudly. "Nearly seven."  
  
"So you're my age!" Crystal said in surprise. Jamie's smile widened.  
  
"So I am. Well, I better be off, someone's gotta watch the youngsters," Jamie winked at her and walked off, humming to himself.  
  
"I don't like him," Johnny said the instant Jamie turned the corner down the hallway.  
  
Crystal rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, he was nice."  
  
"Still don't like him," said Johnny stubbornly. Crystal began walking down the hall, latching her hand in Johnny's.  
  
"You don't like any other male who so much as breathes funny around me," Crystal snorted.  
  
They walked around the mansion, several times walking around in circles. They opened and closed doors to take a peak at some of the rooms, several of which turned out to be linen closets.  
  
Finally, they heard a noise that indicated that there was some life nearby. They followed the laughter and the shouting, and ended up in front of a door to one room. They opened it cautiously, only to find that they had found the rec room.  
  
Jamie was standing on the couch waving his arms in the air to try to restore the chaos. Children mutants were running around the room, playing what they had dubbed 'Mutant Tag' and efficiently trashing the room. A blonde woman in the corner that must have been older than Jamie was doing nothing to help. In fact, she was just making it worse. She kept rolling what looked like little glowing balls across the room, and seconds later they would explode like a cherry bomb.  
  
"Whoo-wee!" She shouted, laughing loudly. "Come on, Multiple! Chill out! Let the kiddies have fun!"  
  
"You're not helping the matter, Tabby!" shouted Jamie over all the noise. He looked around the room for help. He found what he hoped was salvation in the corner, reading a book.  
  
"Rahne!" he called to the Scottish redhead. "Rahne, you gotta help me!"  
  
Rahne's green eyes flickered up to look at Jamie. She yawned and seemed to seriously think about it. Then she grinned and shook her head. "Ye by yerself, Jamie!"  
  
Jamie groaned. "Okay, that's it." He punched himself in the side of the head. Crystal gasped, about to go forward to make him stop, but then froze when she saw what happened. Three clones at a time seemingly came popping out of Jamie. The younger mutants immediately quieted.  
  
"Listen up!" Jamie said, his clones saying everything he said except they all finished at different times. "There're guests here! We don't want to make this place look like an insane asylum, kay? Be impressionable! Show these guys that some of us may have some manners! Now start cleaning this pigsty up!" The children immediately scrambled around the room, haphazardly putting everything back where they had thought it had been. Jamie and his clones looked immensely satisfied, their arms crossed against their chest and the clones were nodding with satisfaction.  
  
"Hey, Jamie, I think some of the guests already know what slobs we are!" Tabitha said loudly pointing to Johnny and Crystal near the doorway. She waved at them, "Howdy, newbodies! Welcome to our sty!"  
  
Jamie whipped around, his clones copying his movements. He grinned at them, but it was more directed at Crystal than to Johnny.  
  
"Hullo!" he greeted them. "Have you met these ones before?" He indicated to Rahne and Tabitha and the other children.  
  
Johnny shook his head, looking at Jamie suspiciously. Tabitha sprung from her seat and rushed to Johnny with her hand sticking out.  
  
"Tabitha Smith at your service," she purred, winking at him.  
  
"Uh, Johnny Storm," Johnny said uncomfortably. Crystal stuck her hand out for Tabby to shake, and they did, introducing themselves.  
  
"That one in the corner reading over there is Rahne Sinclair," Jamie told them, pointing to the redhead. She glanced up from her reading and gave them a sweet smile, waving her fingers at them.  
  
"These little monsters are Illyana Rasputin, Theresa Cassidy, Dorian Leech, and Artie," Tabby told them, indicating to each child as she said their names. When they heard their names, each one froze in their spot and waved to the guests and then immediately went back to what they were doing.  
  
"Who have ye already met?" Rahne asked, getting up from her spot and stretching her back.  
  
"Uh, the Brotherhood, Scott, Rogue, the Professor, Magneto, Wanda, Ray and Kitty," Crystal told her. "I think that's it. And you guys."  
  
"Well you have to meet more of the guys!" Tabby said, looping her arm around Johnny's. "There're just so many you have to meet! I can't believe you haven't even met Kurt yet!"  
  
She dragged him out of the room, with Crystal and Rahne following closely behind. Crystal wasn't sure if she really liked Tabby. She seemed like a nice enough girl, a bit on the wild side, but then again she was flirting with Johnny. 'Well,' Crystal thought, 'I've already had three guys hit on me, according to Johnny, so I guess it's not so bad.'  
  
"There's Kurt, he's a really great guy, and Dr. McCoy, and Ray and Sam, but he should be in Kentucky now, and Warren and" Tabby was rambling as they walked their way to the living room, "Ororo, and-SPEEDY!"  
  
She had disentangled herself from Johnny's arm and ran at full speed towards Pietro when she spotted him standing behind the couch, talking to some of the others. He turned around quick as a flash and grinned, holding out his arms. She leapt into his embrace, wrapping her legs around his waist and gave him a gigantic kiss on the lips. Johnny shoulders sagged in relief. Good, he had a girlfriend.  
  
"Ah, Tabby!" Pietro laughed, turning his head to the side to escape Tabby's friendly smooch. "You're choking me!" Tabitha loosened her grip around his neck slightly.  
  
"We missed you here, buddy!" she said, "Some of the girls at the club were asking about you. They've been wondering where you've been all this time."  
  
She climbed down and smiled at him, and then glanced slightly to her left. Her smile widened and she jumped over the couch and knocked herself into the figure that was sitting there, knocking them both on to the floor.  
  
"Iceboy!" She began kissing all over Bobby's face. "Oh, oh! Where is Amara? And Jubilee? Did they make it out too?"  
  
Johnny's shoulders sagged even lower in disappointment. No, Tabby was just a very open person.  
  
Bobby laughed weakly and put his hand on her face and pushed it away. "Get off me, Boom Boom. Yeah, yeah they're fine. In the infirmary. Roberto too. And it's Iceman."  
  
Tabitha squealed, jumped up and ran with a speed that could almost match Quicksilver's down to the med-bay.  
  
Pietro smiled very weakly at the both of them. He gestured to each one of the mutants, introducing them to the Fantastic Four member and his girlfriend. "Bobby Drake, Sam Guthrie, and Kurt Wagner and his girlfriend Amanda Sefton."  
  
Bobby was picking himself off of the floor, dusting himself off. Sam smiled and waved at them, his legs draped over the armchair he was laying across, and Amanda Sefton smiled at them.  
  
"Fiancée," Amanda corrected.  
  
"Oh," Pietro said dully, realizing again how much he had missed out on.  
  
The smell of brimstone filled the room.  
  
"Gutentag," Kurt said cheerfully, squatting on the back of the couch. Johnny and Crystal jumped back and gasped in surprise.  
  
Kurt cocked his head to the side. "Now, are you gasping in surprise zat I appeared here quite unexpectantly or are you gasping at ze vay how I look?"  
  
"Surprise, surprise," Johnny said immediately. Kurt grinned at them, showing fanged teeth.  
  
"Vell, zat's good," he said, nodding. Then he bamfed again and took his spot back next to Amanda, wrapping an arm around her.  
  
Pietro rubbed the back of his neck wearily. "Well, you can still wander around if you'd like, or I assume you can, I don't live here." He looked at Kurt, who nodded. "Well, I guess you can then. I'm-I'm going to find my sister and go-go to sleep, if anybody... needs me."  
  
He rolled his shoulders one at a time and walked off, leaving Johnny and Crystal alone with the five strangers.  
  
"Vell," Kurt said, "Are you staying for dinner, zen?"  
  
Crystal nodded, lacing her fingers once again in Johnny's.  
  
Amanda laughed. "Well, you better show up early then! Kurt here has an appetite, as does Freddy. And if I've heard anything from the Brotherhood, Pietro could eat a whole truckload of food if he wanted to."  
  
Both Johnny and Crystal looked at her in surprise. Freddy certainly looked like he could eat just about his weight, but Kurt and Pietro was surprising.  
  
"Don't look surprised," Sam drawled. "Ah think it has somethin' ta do with their mutations."  
  
Bobby snorted, looking up as he flipped through the TV guide. "You think? You just heard that from Beast when you first got here and was so surprised that Kurt ate half of the food off of the table." He gave Kurt a glare.  
  
"Hey, Sam," Kurt said, changing the subject abruptly, "Aren't you suppose to be in Kentucky?"  
  
Sam sighed. "Flight's been cancelled till tomorrow. An' here I pack fer nothin'."  
  
Kurt pressed on. "Vell, shouldn't you be spending the time vith Paige? I mean, she just came home a few days ago, you'd think you'd want to see her."  
  
Sam jumped up; looking horrified, and knocked over the end table next to the chair in the process. He fumbled setting it right and then bolted out of the room.  
  
Rahne sighed. "Kurt, way to go makin' him feel guilty. Dinnae know ye had it in ye." She went much more calmly after Sam.  
  
Kurt shrugged looking innocent. Meanwhile, Crystal and Johnny invited themselves to sit on the couch. Nobody seemed to mind, or notice. Somewhere in the house, someone was singing loudly, shaking a box of something. He burst into the room.  
  
"Pietro!" Pyro called, then whistled as if he were calling a dog. "Pietro! Lookie! I got sugar cubes!" He shook the yellow box in his hand, making a rattling noise. He looked around the room and sighed.  
  
"Where the hell has Pietro gone?" He asked sounding disappointed.  
  
"Sleeping," Amanda answered him.  
  
Pyro exhaled angrily, throwing the box on the floor. "Dammit! We have to finish our ping-pong tournament! We're on our eighty-eighth game and we have to get to five hundred! Dammit, dammit!" He kicked the sugar cubes across the floor.  
  
"He's sleeping," snapped Bobby irritably, "Finish your damn tournament later. Y'know what? Sleep sounds like a good idea. After all those tests Beast did on me, I'd like to rest a bit. Wake me if I'm not down before dinner." He stretched and exited the room, giving Pyro a glare on his way out.  
  
"Why did you have the sugar cubes?" Crystal asked. Pyro grinned at her, sauntered his way over and plopped down on the couch, too close to Crystal for Johnny's liking.  
  
"Well, y'see," Pyro began, "Pietro's attracted to sugar like a fly on poop. When he was living with us in the old days, that is, before he got arrested and then taken by Trask, we had to be careful of what food we bought." He sighed blissfully at the memories. "Course, we didn't do that as much when I started living with them. I think he drove Lance insane. But I did live with him for a little while then, when he betrayed them and lived with us Acolytes."  
  
Johnny and Crystal stared at him, digesting all of the information. Kurt rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.  
  
"Vay to be subtle, John," he snorted. "Vhy don't you just tell them every personal thing you know about Pietro zat's not anybody's business?"  
  
"I'm not sure Pietro would like that," Pyro said, rolling his eyes.  
  
They sat there for an hour, listening to Pyro talk about the more silly antics of the Brotherhood. When he finished, and it was time to eat, Johnny concluded that the whole Brotherhood, Pietro included, were lunatics.  
  
There was an enormous dining table they sat at. Johnny and Crystal sat next to each other, across from Wanda and Pietro. On Pietro's left side was Tabby and next to her was someone they did not know. Crystal sat next to Ben, while on Johnny's other side was a girl with purple hair. The Professor sat at the head of the table and close to him was a man that reminded them of Pietro. They sat nearer to the end of the table.  
  
"Pietro," Tabby was saying as Pietro cut up his steak, "the girls at the club really missed you. I'll take you there tonight, how does that sound?"  
  
Pietro lifted his fork and shoved the food in his mouth, staring at a spot on the table. He chewed, and swallowed. "Which girls in particular?"  
  
"Jeannie," Tabby said to him, "She's been asking about you for awhile. But anyways, me and Pyro were going to take some of the guys out. Wanna come?"  
  
"I don't remember Jeannie," Pietro said, taking another stab at his food.  
  
"Speedy, you banged this one twice," Tabby told him in a quieter tone. "You don't normally do that." When he gave her a blank stare she sighed in irritation. "She's shorter, brown hair, brown eyes. A little paler. Oh, come on Pie! You gotta know whom I'm talking about!"  
  
Pietro was now scooping the corn on his plate. His eyebrow was slightly raised. "Maybe if I see her I'll recognize her."  
  
"Well duh, we're taking you with us, so yeah, you'll see her," Tabby rolled her eyes. "But we're taking Betsy and Ray and hey, we even let Jamie tag along." She looked across the table at Johnny and Crystal. She gave them a slightly evil grin, "Hey! You two look young and innocent, wanna come too?"  
  
Both of them looked startled, "What kind of club is this?" asked Johnny suspiciously.  
  
"A gay strip club," Tabitha said sarcastically and rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. "What do you think it is? It's a regular club where you dance and drink and just have fun, coming or not?"  
  
Johnny looked at his girlfriend hesitantly. Crystal shrugged. "Sure, it might be fun," she said.  
  
Tabby clapped her hands together enthusiastically, "Goody!"  
  
"Nobody else is coming?" Pietro asked around a mouthful of food.  
  
"Well, not with us," she said, "But I think we've convinced Lance he has to stop brooding and start dating again. So he's driving his jeep there. He wants to go alone."  
  
"He's still sulking over Kitty?" Pietro asked in disbelief. "She's not worth it!"  
  
Tabby shrugged. "She might have been worth it to him. I think he was actually in love with her. I think he still is."  
  
. . . . . . . . . . . . .  
  
Next chapter's going to be at the club, and the next one after that is at the Guthrie's. I'm trying to focus on other characters now.  
  
Some of you might be confused about this, but then again, you might not have noticed. Tabby was at the fight with the sentinels, it's been what, a few days since? You'd think she'd have seen the others. But my excuse for that is that they were in the Med-bay getting better over injuries and weren't allowed to have visitors. So there.  
  
Eboni- Bad boys trying not to cry is very entertaining. I feel even worse for Johnny. Now they're THREE of them after his woman. He's threatened by JAMIE! Thanks for reading this and thanks for reviewing it too!  
  
Crazyspaceystracey- Hey, who says Pyro has Legacy? He's important in the next story! And he could be coughing because he's smoking so darn much. He did start when he was 14. Baaad Pyro! But then again, I know what's going to happen and stuff. So you'll just have to wait and see! Thanks for reviewing!  
  
SperryDee- Thanks! I really appreciate your review!  
  
DemonRogue13- Yes, Poor Pyro. But then, why are we feeling sorry for him? We don't know what's happening yet! Well, I do, but I digress. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Morlock- Is Crystal going to dump Johnny for Pietro? Surely not! I would never do such a think to poor Johnny! ;-) Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Kyuushi- Pimp!Magneto=Bad. Having Lorna as a daughter would NOT make some readers (and writers) happy. Only Anya, Pietro, and Wanda should exist as his flesh and blood children. Thank you so much for reviewing!  
  
Okay, here's a little list thingy for the approximate ages of the characters! Be proud of me, I worked really hard on this! Okay, not really hard, but hard enough. If there's a second number, it means they're off by that second age by a few months. So let's say, Scott's 24 right now. If he has a 25 after his name, that means he's between 24 and 25. Oh, never mind that.  
  
Lance: c. 24 Pyro: c. 25 Scott: c. 24-25 Piotr: c. 25-26 Jean: c. 24 Angel: c. 26 Pietro: c. 23 Storm: c. 35-36 Wanda: c. 23 Beast: c. 36 Fred: c. 23-24 Xavier: c. 61 (he doesn't look it!) Rogue: c. 23 Magneto: c. 70 (he doesn't look it!) Kurt: c. 23 Crystal: c. 18 Todd: c. 21-22 Jamie: c. 18 Kitty: c. 22 Amanda: c. 23 Roberto: c. 21-22 Johnny: c. 20 Sam: c. 21 Ben Grimm: c. 30 Tabby: c. 21 Betsy: c. 24 Ray: c. 21 Gambit: c. 28 Bobby: c. 21 Rahne: c. 20 Evan: c. 21 Jubilee: c. 20 Amara: c. 20 Paige: c. 17  
  
Wow. You didn't need to know all that did you? Oh well, too bad.  
  
Like it? Hate it? Either way, review! 


	17. At the Club

Disclaimer- I do not own the characters, the Car-X jingle, or the Walter E. Smith jingle.

Please forgive me if there are any errors. I rushed in posting this chapter because of the long time since I last updated. Hopefully there's not a lot. Not my best chapter either, but it's better than nothing, right?

Chapter 17- At the Club

The seven people exited the X-Van as they parked in a parking spot just outside of the club. Tabby cracked her knuckles and grinned, turning to face the others.

"That's it," she said, "When Lance gets here he's taking some of you guys. It was _cramped _in there!"

When they entered they found it was warm inside from the body heat and smelled like cigarettes and alcohol. Booths lined the outer walls, waiters and waitresses weaved through the dancers to serve drinks, and couples were kissing in the shadows trying to be hidden but not really achieving.

"Jamie get a table enough for eight," Ray ordered, shoving the younger mutant forwards a bit. Jamie, although used to being picked on, glared and gave him a rude gesture before venturing off in search of a decent place for them to sit.

Ray looked around the place with his arms crossed. He paused, a brief smile crossing his features and he straightened, cleared his throat and made his way towards the middle of the crowd. He stopped at a very attractive and scantily dressed woman with dark hair and bronze skin and she smiled at him as he said something and they both started dancing.

Tabby snorted and looked around the place with a satisfied expression. She nudged Pietro in the ribs and pointed to a short lady sitting at the bar with a few giggling friends. She has straight brown hair that fell to the middle of her back and she was wearing a red tank top and black leather pants.

"Recognize her?" Tabby asked with a wink. Pietro frowned.

"No."

Tabby groaned and smacked him on the arm. "No memory at all? Geez, how could you not remember her? You did her twice!"

"So I've been told," Pietro said nonchalantly as his eyes scanned the area for Jamie, who had found a corner booth but did not bother to get them. He started walking in that direction.

"Jamie you snot!" he heard Tabitha snap behind him as the rest followed his lead.

They stopped at the booth and as Tabitha raised her hand threateningly to Jamie he cowered away and put his hands up in defense. "Don't hit me unless you want to give us away!"

She paused and then lowered her hand. Everybody slid into the booth until she was the only one standing. Tabby realized this, and immediately sat next to Jamie, who moved to his right a little away from her.

Pyro raised his hand and immediately a waitress sauntered over. "Give us eight beers please."

She smiled and walked bouncily away to get their order.

"Where are you from?" Johnny questioned Pyro, a curious expression on his face.

"Tha land down undah," Pyro said, thickening his accent so it was even wilder than Steve Irwin's. "Australia to you, if you're stupid."

Johnny's eyes narrowed slowly and Crystal rolled her eyes, lacing her fingers through his from under the table to calm him.

"Crystal," Jamie piped up from across the table, "Would you dance with me for this song? As friends, of course." He gave her a handsome grin and Crystal could not do anything else but comply.

"Sure," she said, smiling. He stood up and she followed him out to the dance floor, dancing to Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back". Johnny scowled, 'How appropriate,' he thought. He was not a happy man at the moment.

Tabby stood up abruptly and made her way across to the bar.

"Hey, where're you going?!" Pietro called after her as he watched her retreating back. He scowled. "She better not be getting that Jeannie girl. I don't want to see her; I don't care if I've slept with her or not."

"Don't know what you see in her," Pyro said, gulping down his Miller Genuine Draft. The bottle emptied quickly, and Pyro (being cheap) took another off of the table that was supposed to be Ray's. "She's not _that _good, an' I know how picky you are with women. Hey, if you get laid tonight, it'd be your _third _time with one girl! Tha's a record now, innit?"

"Oh crap," Pietro moaned as he saw Tabby and the girl Jeannie approaching the table. He buried his face in his hands and waited in doom.

Pyro chuckled as he took out a cigarette from his back pocket and lit it with his favorite Zippo lighter. Coincidentally or not, the smoke seemed to always blow in the direction of Johnny's face, which greatly irritated him. He waved a hand in front of him in an attempt to breath fresh air, but it was futile.

"Pietro baby!" The girl had a rather high voice and it grated on all three men's ears for a moment. Pyro winced.

"Oy, I forgot about that!" he hissed.

"Hi...Jeannie," Pietro said in false cheeriness, fixing a smile on his face. The girl, being very bold, straddled his lap without any permission but Pietro didn't seem to protest very much.

"You remember Jeannie, don't you, Pietro?" Tabby asked, giving Pietro a bright smile although her eyes glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah I do," Pietro lied through his teeth. When did he ever have sex with this girl? He racked through his mind and tried to remember, but with no such luck. Perhaps he was too drunk to remember _both _times. Or maybe the girl was a liar.

"'Ello Jeannie," Pyro called, finishing his second beer already. Jeannie twisted around to glare at him.

"Not tonight, Pyro," she sneered, "I want to do it with somebody who's actually good." She turned back around and started kissing Pietro's face and neck. Pyro flipped her off and made faces behind her back, which had Tabby trying to muffle her giggling with her hand.

"Pietro, I haven't had somebody as good as you in a very long time," Jeannie murmured in his lips. He smirked, his old arrogance taking over again.

"_Nobody's _as good as me," he sneered and wrapped his arms around her waist. Tabitha started applauding while Johnny slid away from the couple with a disturbed look on his face.

Jeannie jerked her head towards one of the exits. "Then come on, my car's out back." She got off and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. "I'll bring him back in about an...hour?" She raised a questioning eyebrow to him.

He grabbed Tabitha's wrist and peered at her watch. He licked his lips and furrowed his brow. "Make it twenty minutes at the most. I wanna make this quick tonight. Others call for my attention." He pulled Jeannie towards the exit after him.

"You know you can go quicker than that, Speedy!" Tabby called after them, cackling. He responded by flipping her off without turning around.

"Well, c'mon guys let's dance!" Tabby cheered, grabbing both Pyro and Johnny's hands and pulling them to the dance floor. Pyro was cackling madly, swigging down the beer he ordered for Crystal and started dancing wildly with anybody within ten feet of him. Johnny just looked panicked.

But to his relief, Tabby was leading them to Crystal and Jamie, who were still dancing together. Crystal was laughing quite a bit too much for his liking.

"C'mon Mult, let the boy dance with his girlfriend," Tabby laughed, pulling Jamie away from Crystal and making him dance with her. Jamie grinned lopsidedly at Crystal and winked.

They danced for about fifteen minutes when Lance entered and Pietro came back.

"Oh, lookie Lancey's here!" Tabby cooed, rushing over to the brown-haired man who barely took two steps into the doorway.

Pietro stood next to Jamie, breathing rather calmly but looking sweaty with Jeannie clinging to his arm. She was still trying to catch some breath.

"Well, I'm going back to my friends now, Pietro," Jeannie heaved, standing on her tiptoes to give him a very heated kiss on the mouth.

Pietro wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he watched her retreat to the bar. He looked vaguely disgusted. "She's _dirty _and it's not in a good way. It's almost too much. "

Jamie started laughing hysterically, doubling over and clutching his stomach. Pietro shuddered.

"Wookie who decided to wetwurn fwum the dead!" Tabby said in a baby-voice behind them, her arm looped around a very sulky looking Lance.

"Shut up," he muttered, but Tabby just laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, forcing him to dance the slow dance with her.

"Hey, Crys, I'm going to the washroom," Johnny told her, kissing her cheek. Crystal smiled and nodded.

Crystal turned to Pietro the moment Johnny left. "So you made love to her?"

Pietro scowled at her. "Not 'made love'. Had sex. So?"

"That's very," Crystal struggled to find the right words, "sluttish of you."

"Yeah, whatsit to ya?" Pietro snapped in irritation. "Where'd John go?"

"Bathroom. And it doesn't mean anything to me!" she said.

"I meant Pyro. And if it doesn't mean anything, why d'ya sound so bothered by it?" Pietro snapped back at her. "Oh there's John. Stupid idiot, he had like four beers already. What's he doing with another one?"

Crystal opened her mouth to say something more when she suddenly found herself crushed against Pietro's frame and spun wildly around to face the other way. She struggled for a moment but he only held her tighter. She glanced at his face and saw in surprise that his eyes were wide with something akin to fear.

"Don't let them see me," he whispered. "Tabby, Tabby!"

"What?" she turned, pausing for a moment dancing with Lance.

"A Friend. Over there, there's a Friend." At her confused look he continued, "A Friend of Humanity. I recognize him! He's over there...we gotta get out!"

She nodded firmly, and Lance immediately went to collect Pyro, while Tabby told Jamie to get Johnny from the bathroom. She herself went to get Ray.

They managed to escape the club unnoticed by the FoH; it was a struggle trying to quiet Pyro down since he had one too many beers. He kept singing commercial jingles in an awful out of tune voice.

"Walter E. Smith you dream it we build it," he slurred, his arm draped over Tabby's shoulder as they dragged him to Lance's jeep. "When your car's runnin' funky an' ya need a ha-aa-aand, don't worry see your Car-X man!"

"Speedy, Pyro, you guys go with Lance," she ordered, "We need to hit the road _now. _Oh, I can not believe they're here..."

Pietro said nothing the entire time. He spent all of his energy trying to control his shivering, but somehow it was beyond his control to help it.

"C-can't we just go now?" he sputtered out, looking wildly around from his seat in the front. Lance nodded and slammed his foot on the gas pedal, and his jeep screeched out of the lot, the X-Van following closely behind him.

Hey, sorry, sorry, sorry for the really late update! My computer has seriously been in a coma for the past month and a half. But don't worry! I'm back! Hopefully updates will start getting a move on again...Thanks to all who reviewed!


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